A Changed Life
by chainchomp5
Summary: A new visitor spells change for Nerima, but for who? OC warning.
1. Prologue

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES)

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Prologue: Launch

*****

Hikaru Gosunkugi sighed. It had been a long, boring day again for him. As usual, he had woken up, eaten breakfast, walked to school, been shaken down by Nabiki, been shaken up by Ranma, been late for class, stood out in the hallway with buckets, ate lunch, tried and failed to cast a spell, tried and failed to learn anything whatsoever, went home, ate dinner, took a bath, and brushed his teeth. Now he was looking out the window. All that was left to do was to crawl into bed and fall asleep. As he turned away, a glint in the night sky above cought his attention. looking back, he saw a comet streak through the sky.

*Ah well, what the heck. Not like it could hurt anything...* thought Hikaru.

"I with that my life would take a change for the better, and I would finally have something to feel good about myself."

With that, he got in bed and fell asleep.

Up in Asgard, Kami-Sama smiled and said two words that would change Hikarus' life forever.

"WISH... GRANTED!"

*****

A.N.

Well, how's this gunna work out? How will Hikaru be changed? What will he be changed by?

I'm not telling you yet!

chainchomp5


	2. Chapter 1

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

Signs

Chinese

Thoughts

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES NUMBER)

*****

Chapter 1: Impact

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It was a beautiful day in Nerima. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, there were few clouds in the sky, possibly because some of them had been wounded by a flying figure.

Oddly enough, it wasn't our favorite pigtailed martial artist.

A young man of about 16 years with brown hair tied into a thin style somewhere between a pigtail and a ponytail with a frayed backpack and smoking clothes was sailing through the sky. When he was about 1000 yards from the sidewalk he was about to land in, he rolled over. This was because he was asleep.

Less than five seconds later, he woke up. This was because he hit the ground. This is not a pleasant way to wake up.

The boy crawled out of the hole he had made in the concrete.

*Hm... it looks strangely like a swan...* (1) he thought.

Reaching into his still-smoking backpack, he drew forth a rather tattered paper on which some notes had been jotted down.

*Let's see... I mis-calculated the velocity for entry... but I KNOW I didn't mess up the dimensional coordinates. I hope. Ah well, here goes nothing.*

He walked up to a random passerby and inquired politely, 'Excuse me, do you know the way to Furinkan High?'

"Huh? Say what?"

The boy smacked himself. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small necklace with a strange pebble attached, and put on said jewlery.

"Is this better? Ah, there we go. Now, I hate to bother you, but could you please direct me to Furinkan High?"

An astute observer would have noticed that the boy's words didn't quite match his lip movements.

Of course, most denizens of Nerima didn't really pay too much attention to wierdos. They were kind of jaded in that department.

"Sure," replied the pedestrian, on the assumption that this was another martial artist come to challenge Ranma, "Just head down that street and make a right. You can't miss it."

"Thank you very much!" replied the ponytailed teen.

After a few minutes of travelling, he arrived at the gates of Furinkan. He checked his digital watch, realized that it was set for New Jersey time, pressed a few buttons, and checked it again.

*It's still fairly early in the morning. School should start soon. There'll be a confrontation between Tatewaki and Ranma, but I want to avoid that. Where does Hikaru hang out?*

He walked over to the shaded lot behind the school. Not a whole lot of people were there, what with just about everyone inside. The only person who was there looked like a dead man walking, with dark circles under his eyes, a thin build, and no skin tone whatsoever. He was sitting on the steps, supporting his head using a fist in a classic "thinker" pose. He was wearing the usual dark blue uniform, unusual only in the fact that he was wearing two lit candles in strange band around his head. On the ground was a pigtailed voodoo doll, a short-haired voodoo doll, a stick-wielding voodoo doll, and a few other voodoo gewgaws arranged in a pattern that seemed strangely meaningful.

"Hikaru? Hikaru Gosunkugi?"

The spoken-to turned away from contemplating the straw dolls and whatnots and stared at the newcomer. He wasn't used to this, given that very few people knew he even existed, much less spoke to him. "Yes?" he asked back?

"I know this sounds really strange, but I'm going to give you a chance."

Hikaru was baffled. "A chance at what?"

The boy smiled. "A chance at whatever you want. I'm here to train you."

"Train me? Train me in what?"

"Well, to start with, magic. That spell you've arranged is a little unbalanced."

Gosunkugi was surprised. "W-What do you mean?" he said.

"Well, if you manage to get that thing off the ground, which I doubt, then you'll have the undying affection of all small woodland creatures within half a mile of here."

"What do you mean, 'If I can get it off the ground'?" Hikaru pondered the stranger's statement.

"Well, have you ever wondered how and why voodoo works? Or in your case, how and why voodoo should work but doesn't?"

Hikaru stared at the newcomer. "Not really..."

"Well, the main power of voodoo comes from the energy of the universe."

"What do you mean? Everything comes from the energy of the universe. So what?"

"No no no. What I mean is, the energy of the UNIVERSE. The kind that enforces karma, not the kind that's expanding."

"Oh."

"Right. Now, you know how people have different luck? For instance, some people are blessed right from the start with good looks, a good brain, a healthy body, a righteous spirit, talent for this or that? Well, that's because their luck is strong from the beginning. Not always good, mind you. Strong luck can be evil too, like when a twister rips through your house.

"Well, as I was saying, voodoo was originally developed as a way to bleed off excess luck. Bad luck was cleverly misdirected using stuff fools the universe into believing that the recipient of a certain amount of bad luck is someone beside from the caster, or, if the caster is low on bad luck, the caster's friends.

"Blessings are a bit trickier; they use up whatever the blessing produces. So, say, a voodoo spell that ends up making the target more energetic might drain the caster of energy for a while, while a nerve-steadying spell would probably arrange events so the caster's life is more stressful for a while. It's not always good luck; it's possible that the caster actually gets the long end of the stick from a blessing, and both the caster and the subject can benefit from the same spell. It's not always good luck that these spells use.

"Now, the things that all of these spells require is changes in luck. In other words, you have to sometimes have bad things happen to you, and sometimes better things. For instance, a shaman might make, say, a dog barking in the neigborhood keeping him up all night to his rival, but he can't do that every day. Then he might bless his friend to find 100 yen on the sidewalk, but, like the dog, he can't do that all the time."

"Is this going anywhere? I've got to go to class soon."

"Not to worry, I'm finishing up this lecture. Now, as I was saying, luck fluctuates. That's the basis of voodoo. You don't have enough to power it. You need some other school of magic. Now get to class. If you want to hear more, I'll see you under the tree Ranma doesn't sit in during lunch."

*****

Before this continues, a few notes to remember please.

Knights of the True Fiance please bugger off. Rabid Canon Thumpers please thump elsewhere.

I'll be bashing almosteveryone. Nerima is a festering pile of sludge. But it's a good kind of sludge, the anime kind.

And this is kinda a SI. It's not ME me that arrives, but then again most OCs are in fact SIs on one level or another.

No, voodoo isn't really "Luck magic". I just made that up.

(1)Semi-inspired by Mirrors Multiplied.

chainchomp5


	3. Chapter 2

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES)

*****

Chapter 2: First Crest

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Last time: A new arrival in Nerima ignored all the major players and headed right for Hikaru. What's going on here?

*****

Hikaru left the boy sitting behind the school and headed in, narrowly avoiding being seen by the crowd heading inside after the morning fight. *I wonder if this guy actually knows something. It would be nice if something good actually happened to me...*

The first half of the day went by quickly, and after the lunch bell finally rang Hikaru veritably flew out of the building. He saw the ponytailed youth sitting under a tree eating a sandwich. Strangely, no one but Hikaru seemed to be able to see him. In fact, they simply walked around him.

Hikaru walked over to the teen, and coughed politely. The youth jumped up, startled. "Ah! Gomen nasai, you startled me;" he said.

Hikaru waved it off. "That's all right. Say, I've been wondering, what exactly is your name?"

"Oh, that. Sorry about that, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sotaki."

"Ok, you got my curiosity. How do you know so much about magic, and what is the right style for me?"

"Well, to answer that, I'll need to ask you a few questions."

"Shoot," said Hikaru as he sat on a bench and started on his lunch.

"Ok. First: Would you rather wield much power in a way that can be applied in few situations or would you rather use less power in a more general way?"

Gosunkugi gave that a few moments of thought.

"I'd have to say less power" he said between bites.

"Good. Now, would you rather have your magic affect people or things more?"

"That's a tough one. I'd have to say people though."

"Great. Would you rather have a spell that allowed you to defeat anyone, a spell that allowed you to stop any attack, or a spell that allowed you to avoid conflicts altogether?"

"That's easy. I'd rather avoid trouble."

"Great. Now the next question will determine your natural talent at wielding the energies needed to cast the spells I've got planned for you. All I want you to do is relax, and listen to and look at the schoolyard. Depending on what you see and hear, I'll figure out where to start with you. You may see some freaky stuff, so just relax and don't worry."

Hikaru finished off his bento and leaned back. He turned his head and looked at his hated rival, Ranma Saotome. "I just see the Saotome. What am I supposed to see?"

"You're looking wrong if that's all you see. Relax your vision. Look past him."

Hikaru tried to follow Sotaki's instructions. He stared for about five minutes when his eyes crossed and started to water. He blinked to clear them, and when he opened his eyes the world was slightly different. For starters, the ground was covered in lines of differing colors. When things moved, they went out of focus, and when they stopped they became crisper than ever before. He could see Saotome, but for some strange reason he was sort of colored bright blue, with a few patches of red hidden deep inside of the aqua. The blue was directed inward, and seemed to stay right on the martial artist. However, the red seemed to drift towards the center of Hikaru's life, Akane Tendo.

Gosunkugi turned his head to look at her. Right before he saw her, he tensed up, and the world turned normal.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" he practically screamed at Sotaki.

"What did you see?" shot back Sotaki.

"I saw colors around and on people, and colored lines on the ground. When things moved they changed focus. Now will you tell me what happened and what it means?"

"Just as I thought..."

"What?" Hikaru was sweating. He had never actually had anything out of the ordinary happen to him, except for the occasional conflict with Ranma.

"You are actually capable of learning 3 things from me. The first is divine magic. More specifically, you're able to learn something generally referred to as 'Dark' magic because it's useful for attacks. That does NOT make it evil, although it's easier to use Dark for evil than good seeing as there are no healing spells. The lines you saw were God-lines. You probably heard of leylines... these are kinda like that except these are flows of divine power. Depending on where and who you draw power from you'll use different lines.

"Second, you are capable of learning psionics. This is a power that's quite frankly nearly useless for offense and defence of the conventional kind. The best you can do with psionics is make a decent-sized blast. However, in terms of other things it's quite useful; and it's capable of enhancing other attacks.

"The third is a school of martial arts called Kinesis. This is a powerful martial art that requires nothing more than a little light conditioning. It won't grant you the ability to blow anyone away with one punch, but it will let you dodge just about anything.

If you learn well, you'll be able to combine them into a way of life."

Hikaru was stunned. "Will you teach me?"

Sotaki grinned. "I've already begun."

*****

Love it? Hate it? Please review, the kind words of readers will give me strength to make more. The unkind words of readers will be parried and riposted if I have the time and the wit.

chainchomp5


	4. Chapter 3

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES NUMBER)

*****

Chapter 3: Ripples

*****

The rest of the day flew by for Hikaru. As soon as the bell rang, he dashed outside and over to the tree. Sotaki was nowhere in sight. Hikaru blinked, pondering this turn of events. *Where did he go? He told me he'd be here...*

Hikaru looked around. By chance, he saw the dirt under the tree had been disturbed into a pair of near-identical shapes. Fortunately for Hikaru, he'd been exposed to stereograms before and knew what to do. Gently crossing his eyes, he looked at the shape.

Before his eyes solidified an arrow, pointing up. Glancing up, Hikaru saw a backpack hanging off the top branch. Recognizing it as Sotaki's, he started to scramble up the tree. Unfortunately, he was too weak to get very high, and was exhausted by the time he was sitting on the second branch from the bottom.

As he sat panting, he slowly relaxed. As his eyes focused beyond the horizon, the world started shifting. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, the world was different. Again he saw the lines of color running through the earth, but this time he saw a floating ball of white right in front of him. Curious, Hikaru reached out. As his hand neared the ball, he heard a voice in his mind. *Dingdong, Hikaru! If you've found this my experiment was a success.*

What the heck was that? thought Hikaru, just as Sotaki jumped down from the branch right above Hikaru and removed a few spare leaves from his clothes.

"Wha-What? Why didn't I see you?" spluttered Hikaru.

"Psionics."

"What? You used your mind to turn yourself invisible?"

"No. Invisibility is pointless. Even if they can't see you, they can still hear, smell, and touch you. What I did was make myself part of the environment, like a wall. That way even if you climed past me you wouldn't have touched me."

"What do you mean, 'like a wall'?"

"It's quite simple. Think about a wall. It's not in any space in your map of the world, but it does define your conceptual map. You don't pay attention to it because most of the time it's not 'THERE'. By surrounding myself with an aura of treeness, for all uses and purposes you wouldn't have distinguished me from a small branch on the tree."

"Are there any other applications?"

"Of course there are other applications. Besides just making yourself part of the scenery, you can make yourself more intimidating, you can send messages over long distance, you can read minds... heck, just about anything.

"Psionics are a good place to start, but they're the equivilant of a BB gun in terms of power. Dark magic is harder, but it has plenty of offensive spells, and anyone who's mastered dark magic can cast a few small spells from the light domain.

"Of course, all of these skills are useless if someone decides they don't like you and simply punch you out. That's why I'm going to start training you in the brakes before the gas, so to speak."

Hikaru was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"The first thing you need to learn is discretion. Many a fledgeling sorcerer has been crushed because he revealed his power too early. Until you're capable of holding your own against an initiate of all three skills, I forbid you to reveal your powers or use them on anyone but me, unless I say otherwise."

"All right. Now, you said you'd train me. Could we do that now?"

"Sure. The first thing we're going to do is practice psionics. Right now we're going to practice drawing power. You've seen auras, right? Well, seeing is part of psi, but doing is a vital part as well. What's your favorite thing in the world, the thing you feel most comfortable with? Some people say electricity, some people say water, some say fire, some say sunlight, some say the Earth, or other planets. Personally, I use music, but it's important for you to learn how to draw from at least one source."

Hikaru pondered that, and finally realized what his source was. "I always feel safest in shadow. Darkness is stifling, and light is too sharp, but shade is the middle ground for me."

"All right! Shadow is a fairly powerful element; it's most useful for concealing and distorting things, and it specializes in survival and balance. So what I want you to do is to relax like you did before, and look at the shadow of the tree. Focus on shadow while relaxing."

Hikaru sat down carefully, and tried to achieve the state he was in before he saw auras. As he relaxed, the world shifted again. Blinking, he saw that the shadow of the tree was pulsing with it's own energy.

In the back of his mind he was aware Sotaki was telling him that he could move the shadow. Barely trying, he caused the shadow to flow over the ground toward him. Wrapping it around himself like a cloak, he marvelled at how soft it was. With this power around him, he felt much more confident and comfortable. Like this, he could take on the world.

Suddenly, a snapping noise broke Hikaru out of his trance. He turned and saw Sotaki looking at him. Oddly enough, his vision was still filled with auras. "Well, that went better than expected. You must really like shadow to have gotten it that fast. What you did was channel the shadow 'into' you. If you keep doing that, you'll build up a stock of power. Some people keep power in crystals or rocks. The upside to that is you can carry power around, and you can shield rocks much more easily than yourself, and you can store different types of power. The downside is that you have to carry around rocks, which are heavy, or crystals, which could be valuable. Both can be stolen.

"For now I just want you to look at the world when you've got a psi-charge. After you get bored I'll teach you how to tune that out, or at least down, so you can see things normally. But after this lesson I want you to look at everyday things using your new sight, and see what you can figure out.

"For now, don't try to fool around with any energy besides shadow, and if you start feeling like you're losing control even for a second just toss the energy away."

Hikaru spent the next two minutes looking around, and walking around the neighborhood looking at sights with new insight. After a while he noticed that his usual path to and from school stood had little bits of dark-grey flecked with white floating about five feet off the ground.

Sotaki, who was following behind at a distance, noticed that Hikaru had stopped. "What do you see?" he queried.

"Dark grey flecked with gold is hovering in a cloud above my path to school. Is there any particular reason for this?" Hikaru was amazed how much more in-control he felt with the shadow around him.

"You know, there's one thing you've failed to look at."

"What's that?"

"Yourself."

Hikaru glanced down at himself, and was surprised when he noticed an aura of the same color as the cloud surrounding himself.

Sotaki launched into another lecture. "You see, the reason you think of something as 'yours' is because you've let your aura encompass it. You've heard tales how a noble samurai's sword has responded to his need, or noticed how sports teams play better in a place they're not just familiar with but are comfortable with?

"That's because of Telekinesis. Telekinesis, or TK for short, is a skill that's usually quite exhausting, but handy nonetheless. Most people perform TK on a daily basis but don't realize it. In order to perform TK, you need one of two things. Either you need to familiarize yourself with an object to the point of considering it YOURS, or you need to saturate an object with an aura really fast. In the case of the samurai, his sword became sharper and faster in response to the Samurai's TK in terms of the edge. The sports team stumbles less because they 'convince' the landscape not to put a rock under their feet."

Hikaru was pondering this when the auras slowly faded from sight. His confidence fled, and he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"What... happened... there?" he gasped out.

"You ran out of juice." Sotaki said solemnly.

Hikaru was puzzled. "What? But I drew shadow from the tree."

Sotaki nodded. "Right. But what do you think shapes that shadow?"

Hikaru's eyes widened in realization. "Oh."

"Yes. You ran out after a VERY long time for a beginner. You've got a lot of talent. You just need to practice your holding, drawing, and control and you'll be able to hold a decent amount of energy 24/7.

"Now, I want you to take a breather. I think we've done enough psionics for today. After you recover, we'll take a stroll downtown."

"Why? Where are we going?"

"To see if we can find us an arcade."

****

Hikaru's mastered the basics of one skill in zilch time, but he's not gunna get off that easily on the rest. Can anyone see what an arcade has to do with any of the other two skills?

Also, I'm wondering if Hikaru should end up with anyone. I'm going to be doing some Akane-bashing ahead, and I sincerely doubt the Knights of the True Fiance would really stand up for a Hikaru-Akane pairing, much less anyone else. So, the polls are now open.

Email me at with your opinion. The better your reasons, the more votes I'll cast in a particular category.

Ukyo : 0

Shampoo : 0

Nabiki : 0

Kasumi : 0

Some other Amazon : 0

One of the SM cast : 0

One of the Tenchi cast : 0

No one : 0

Akane : -10


	5. Chapter 4

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES NUMBER)

Chapter 4: Splash

As Hikaru pondered why anyone would want to go to a Tokyo arcade in search of mystical powers, he followed Sotaki down the main street and along the sidewalk, turning with Sotaki at the intersection. After a few minutes of walking, they came to a fairly crowded arcade.

"Ah... just remembered something;" said Sotaki.

"What's that?" replied Hikaru.

"Don't you worry. I'll fix up the problem in a few seconds. Now, I want you to look around and see if you can spot any thugs, preferably ones that look smug or happy."

"Why?"

"So we can rob them of course."

When Hikaru recovered from his facefault, he practically screamed at his teacher. "WHAT? Why the hell would you want to mess with a gang? Are you out of your -MMMP!-" Hikaru was stopped from from further ranting because his larynx had locked up. A few seconds later, the numb feeling faded and he looked at Sotaki. "What was that?"

"That was a pressure point. We don't want to attract their attention, just rob them blind."

"How are you going to rob them without them noticing?"

"How did I hit your pressure point without you seeing?"

"I'm still debating that. You could have used a bolt of psychic power, or magic, or something else."

Sotaki grinned smugly. "Kinesis. Since it grants me control over motion, I controlled my own. I moved just faster than the human eye. In terms of technology, if your eye was a 60 frames/second camera, my tap could only be cought by a 61 FPS camera."

Hikaru gave this some thought. "So you're using a noble and ancient martial art to rob a punk blind?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Why, can you think of something better?"

"Point," conceded Hikaru. "If you're dead set on this, there's a smiling goon on that street corner. See the one with the mohawk?"

"Yeah. Looks like a dealer in contraband to me."

"How can you tell?"

"Well, nothing makes thugs happier than two things: Money and hurting people. Since he's not hurting anyone or bloody we can conclude he's got money. Since we're in a crowded area in a shadier area of the town, we can conclude that he's selling something. Since he lacks various other accessories, we can conclude he sells goods, not services, so to speak. Any questions?"

Hikaru was once again stunned.

"I'll take that as a no. Now I want you to draw a little shadow from that lamp-post and watch with your aura-sight."

Dumbly nodding, the pale boy sat down on a bench and stared at the lamp-post. After a few seconds, he sank into his aura-sight. Drawing off a little shadow, he turned his attention to the punk.

Sotaki was strolling along, slowly drawing a little power from the air around him. Running the power along his skin, he willed it to become an aura of unnoticeability, an aura that would make him as interesting as the air that surrounded the people who he moved amongst.

Hikaru saw the air's energy condense around his teacher, and watched Sotaki stroll past the punk. Suddenly, Sotaki's aura rippled, as did the punk's. The result was interesting, and would be noted soon. Sotaki continued strolling past the now-naked punk, and ducked into an alley. Counting to five, he watched as the punk ran down the street past his hiding-place. Tossing the clothes in the dumpster but keeping the contents of the wallet, he dropped his aura and strolled back to his student, who had released the shadow he was holding.

"Now, what did you see?"

"I saw the aura around you and the punk twitch, but that's it. What did you do?"

"I moved at the same speed I did on you. The thing is, all activity has some effect on people's auras. It's much more noticable if there's a strong aura, like the air I was using. In this case, the point at which my hand went through the aura was the center of the ripples."

Hikaru felt enlightened. "Just two more questions."

Sotaki smiled, knowing what Hikaru was puzzled about. "Shoot."

"One: What was the purpose of the air aura if you moved too fast for him to notice?"

Sotaki grinned. "It's simple, really. If you were the one to strip a guy naked on the streets would you want to be noticed? This way there's less chance that I'll get caught."

Hikaru nodded. "And two: What are we going to do with the yen you stole?"

Sotaki assumed a sagely expression (Think Genma) and stated in a solemn tone of voice: "We are going inside and we are going to play DDR.(1)"

After Hikaru had recovered from his second facefault of the day, he shrugged and went inside.

Oddly enough, the DDR machine only had two kids in line. While they were playing, Hikaru watched them and Sotaki pointed out the flaws in their playing.

"He's moving forward."

"She's off by half a beat."

"He's jumping around too much, he'll be exhausted after that."

"She's moving in time to the beat."

Hikaru was intrigued by the last comment. "Don't you mean, 'She's NOT moving in time to the beat'?"

Sotaki shook his head. "No. The DDR expert lets the beat move in time to him. After you have played a few songs you'll realize that moving in time to the beat is a pain in the neck. It's better to position yourself so that the arrows move to your feet, not have your feet move toward the arrows. Unless there's no alternative, you've GOT to set yourself up in advance."

The two kids finished up their songs and moved on, evidently out of cash. Sotaki took this moment to relax and breathe deeply. Hikaru noticed this. "Why are you relaxing at a time like this? Someone could take our spots!"

"I'm setting up another barrier. When people see this machine and anyone on it they will want to ignore it. Even if they came for it, they'll find something else to do."

Hikaru looked at Sotaki, and noticed a twitch in one of his eyebrows. "There's something you're not telling me."

"You sure you want to know?"

"Of course."

"Well, I'm hoping to find myself a cat."

Again, Hikaru was baffled by his teacher's strange motives. Shruggin off his confusion, he took his position on the pad while Sotaki went and changed a few bills for a considerable handful of coins. Returning to the machine and limbering up, Sotaki popped in a few coins and got ready.

"Now, by your comment earlier I can tell you know how to play DDR," stated Sotaki.

"That's right. Not many know it but I'm a bit faster than I look; it's the only way I can keep in shape. I've managed to AA Maxx Unlimited on Standard."

"Good. I'm going to change things around a little." Saying this, the ponytailed boy walked around behind the machine. Pulling a small piece of metal from his pocket, he poked it into a small lock at the back of the display case. Unlocking the case, he ran his hands over the hardware insids, and then shut and re-locked the case and headed around front again.

"What did you do?"

"I granted myself direct control over the song data. Now pick a song you'd like to hear."

"How about End Of The Century?" pondered Hikaru confidently.

Sotaki's smile was not pleasant. "EOTC it is. But be careful, I'll be throwing insane arrows at you."

"I handled Maxx Unlimited. How bad could your arrows be?"

"Well, for starters there's the fact that I'll be adding in 1/64th beat notes."

Hikaru got the feeling that this was going to be a tough session.

*****

It was later. Pain had happened. The sun was setting as they left.

Hikaru groaned as he dragged himself out of the arcade. Sotaki was whistling Tsugaru, and Hikaru swore he would never look upon another DDR machine in his life if the tiredness simply went away.

His teacher was bright and chipper. Now that he had thoroughly exhausted his student, it was time to figure out what he had learned.

"So, want to share what you've discovered?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Too bad, and here I was all ready to tell you what you were supposed to have learned to prevent feeling like Death warmed over at the end of these sessions."

Hikaru's train of thought did a 180. "Nothing, except that arrows can be very intimidating."

Sotaki sighed. "Would you rather I tell you the secret now or try to figure it out yourself?"

"What would figuring it out myself entail?"

"Well, this is the easiest method, but there are quicker ways. Telling you would mean you weren't as 'in shape'. It's the equivilent of giving you a hammer at the expense of most of your nails."

Hikaru pondered this. He figured Sotaki wouldn't hurt him, considering what he had done for him. On the other hand, he could always get in shape later. Realizing he was probably going to regret this, Hikaru made his decision. "I want to try on my own for now."

"Great. I'll give you a few hints along the way if I can. Now do you feel up to learning a basic spell or are you ready to collapse?"

"I'd like to try a spell, to tell you the truth. Just gimme a second to catch my breath."

Wheezing, Hikaru slowly sank into a squat. After about a minute, he rose again. "Alright, where'll we practice magic?"

Sotaki looked around. Hikaru had lead the stroll this time, and they had entered the residential district that Hikaru lived. Pointing to an abandoned lot, Sotaki smiled. "It looks like that spot over there is expendable."

Hikaru wondered why he didn't like the sound of that.

*****

(1)Dance Dance Revolution, a wonderful arcade game with many spinoffs. There are four panels on the ground which you must step on while a song plays. Words don't do this game justice. GET OUT AND PLAY IT.

chainchomp5


	6. Chapter 5

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES)

*****

Chapter 5: Traveling ripples

*****

Sotaki assumed a drill-sargeanty tone of voice and started pacing in front of Hikaru on the tarmac. "The first thing you must realize is that DARK MAGIC IS DANGEROUS. Unlike psionics, in which failed skills simply result in tiredness, and Kinesis, in which faliure of anything would result in you running into a wall, when magic backfires you WILL be injured. This is why I'll be training you in explosion avoidance after this lecture."

"Spells drawing their power from the power of holiness are called white magic. In white magic there are spells such as Recovery which are used for healing, and defensive spells such as Flow Break and Mos Varim. In addition offensive spells such as Holy Bless -- which can dispel low-level undead like animated skeletons -- exist. However, the more powerful white magic can be cast only by priests and priestesses who serve the gods.

"Black magic calls on the power of powerful Mazoku said to have strength rivaling that of the Gods. Since these spells draw their power from Mazoku -- beings of chaos and destruction -- most of these spells are highly destructive offensive spells. The effect of the spell reflects the characteristics of the Mazoku being called upon. To use black magic it is necessary to understand the use of Chaos Words -- special words of power -- and to perform certain gestures, depending on the spell. The more powerful the Mazoku called upon, the more powerful -- and difficult to control. Also, a spell becomes uncastable when the Mazoku upon whom the spell relies is destroyed.

"Shamanism, or spirit magic, is the general category given to spells which summon forth the power of the spirits. Included in this group are spells which affect spirits directly, and spells which call on the four primary elements of earth, water, fire, and air.

"Spells which use the spirit power of fire have fire's destructive nature. There are a variety of spells from Flare Arrow which is used against individuals to Blast Bomb which can turn a wide area into a plain of fire. Fire spells also have the added effect of making things catch on fire.

"Spells using the spirit power of water are the counterpart to spells which use the spirit power of fire. While fire spells use heat as a weapon, water spells use extremely low teperatures as a weapon. Water spells can be used to temporarily hold opponents by freezing them.

"Earth spells call on the power of the spirits of the earth. Since the caster is usually in continual contact with the ground, he/she has more control over the effects of the spell. The one problem with earth spells is that they have no effect on airborne creatures.

"Air spells use wind spirit power and manipulate the atmosphere to blow away targets or create a barrier of air. There are useful spells such as Levitation. Rei Wing, which surrounds the caster with a bubble of air, makes it possible to dive underneath water.

"Now that you know about magic, let's get to work. The first spell you'll be dodging will be a Bomb Spread. It is near-harmless. However, you WILL feel it if you're close enough. After 10 dodges in a row, I'll switch to something more tricky."

Sotaki took a position about ten feet away from Hikaru, and held his hand above him, palm up. A glowing sphere took form above his palm, and started wavering. Suddenly, it jumped into focus as it was thrown forward by Sotaki with a yell of "BOMB SPREAD!" The sphere zoomed forward at a fair clip, and missed Hikaru by half an inch, mosty due to the fact that Hikaru had scrambled away. The follow-up clipped Hikaru's shoulder and blew up right behind him, propelling him forward about half a foot. "Owch! I thought you said these things were harmless!" Hikaru whined.

"They are. You can't die because of one of these. Now keep dodging!" Saying so, he formed several Bomb Spreads that hovered around him. Launching another, he was treated to the sight of Hikaru running like an idiot from a small ball of light.

Narrowly dodging the blast from the ball, Hikaru got ready to run again, when he noticed that there were two bombs heading toward him from opposite directions. Taking a page from Ranma's book, he hopped and let the two balls collide. His jump length took him by surprise, and he barely kept his balance, only staying up by flailing his arms like wild and contorting his body. During this time, his contortions had managaged to avoid a further four bombs. He regained his balance, and feeling the heat of another ball behind him, he rolled forward, again narrowly dodging the blast. As he stood up, he saw another two balls flying at him, this time not intersecting each other. He dodged carefully this time, but they curved around and followed him.

Realizing his problem, Hikaru ran like crazy behind the only available obstacle near-by: Sotaki. When the smoke settled, Sotaki peeled himself off the ground and glared at the cowering Hikaru. Then he broke into a grin and applauded. "Very good, you're learning to use the environment and your opponent's spells agains him. In case you lost count that was 11 spheres you dodged, and one you got hit with. Not bad for a first try."

Hikaru interupted, confused. "Since when do I jump that far?"

"Since the arcade. What, you think I hacked up DDR just for fun?"

Comprehension dawned on Hikaru. "So that's why Ranma is so good! He trains all the time! Holding buckets, cutting vegetables, walking to school, even talking to Akane!"

Sotaki nodded. "Right. The thing is, Nerima is so strange people are used to it, so it's a perfect training ground. Speaking of Akane, I think you should take a look at her one of these days with your aura sight."

Hikaru shrugged. "She's beautiful and kind. What more is there to see?"

Sotaki frowned. "You'll see. Now, back to work. The next spell won't follow you, but it will make a fairly large spread. This time, you'll need to ride the blast to dodge all the attacks I throw at you.

"Now I want you to put on this robe. It will protect your clothing from the blast." Saying so, Sotaki handed Hikaru a blue robe emblazoned with crystal patterns.

Hikaru donned the robe, and immediately started shivering. "C-c-c-c-cold!" he squeaked out. Sotaki grinned evilly. "Oh, you'll be wishing you were cold before this is over. Remember, these explosions won't kill or maim you while you're wearing the robe, but getting hit with one of these spells will still sting like a bitch, so be careful.

"Ready? FLARE ARROW!" With those words, a spear of red formed in Sotaki's hands, and upon being hurled at the surprised Hikaru, split into many needles. After the experience with the Bomb Spread, Hikaru knew that blasts tended to come in small packages. Therefore, he wisely moved a few feet away from the site of the spell's impact. His new robe billowed, but besides that he was unscathed. "Wonderful! Whenever confronted with a new spell, first get its measure, preferably without getting blown to bits. Now, here's two! FLARE ARROW! FLARE ARROW!"

Seeing to clouds of needles flying in a pattern that would be impossible to jump away from, Hikaru did the only thing he could. He ran toward the cloud and slid under it. Surprisingly, the robe was untorn. "This thing is tough!" "Yeah, it's nearly indestructable in terms of most things. Bullets will tear through it, but most katanas will feel like sticks. Stay sharp... FLARE QUIVER!" A quiver of Flare Arrows formed on Sotaki's back. Launching them in droves, he slowly forced Hikaru back. Surprisingly, Hikaru wasn't hit once.

"All right, you're getting the hang of it! You even avoided my final three by jumping with the blast. Now, I'm going to stop throwing strong spells, but I AM going to start throwing faster and more spells. Ready?"

Panting, Hikaru got ready to dart away. Throwing his arms forward, Sotaki called out the name of his next spell. "Burst Rond!" A ball bigger than the Bomb Spread flew forward, but this time it split up into many smaller balls. Deciding to try something new, Hikaru dodged past the edge of the spell and tried to emulate Sotaki's motion with the Bomb Spread, and force the energy around and inside him to flow the way it did above Sotaki's hands. Slowly gathering the heat in his hand, all while dodging additional Burst Ronds, he got ready to unleash his attack. Flinging the sphere forward, he submitted to the urge to call out its name. "BOMB SPREAD!" The sphere flew straight at Sotaki. Unfortunately, he managed to not only dodge but redirect the spell.

With a shout of "Valis Wall!" Sotaki formed a flame-retardant wall into a glove around his hand and snagged Hikaru's spell out of midair, and, without stopping his motion, pivoted on his toe and threw it around like a baseball. Fortunately for Hikaru, he remembered that he could blow it up, and caused it to do so right after Sotaki dropped his wall. The resulting explosion caused blanketed Sotaki's face in soot, but not much else.

"Well, you've got the basics of spell-casting down, and once again you surprised me with that attack. If I didn't know better I'd say you were already trained in Shamanism. Well, you've dodged three sets of spells today, and I think that's enough for one day. Class dismissed. Tomorrow's a Saturday, so there'll an entire half-day to train. Go home, have a snack, take a nap. I'm going to go explore the surrounding area."

Picking up his backpack and taking his robe, Sotaki left. Hikaru, grinning from ear to ear, headed home.

*****

Yes, Hikaru's a natural. No, not everything will be perfect. Hikaru is in fact a very repressed individual, so of course he's gunna take the initiative as soon as possible. And I'm getting to Ranma & the NWC, but it'll take a while. If Ranma's not a bull-headed moron, he might be getting a few spells and skills of his own, but the rest are all dishonorable &!#$s(with the exception of Ukyo and Kasumi) or already know magic(Khu Lon) so that's it for now. And next chapter will be all about Sotaki.

chainchomp5


	7. Chapter 6

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES)

*****

Chapter 6: Landing

*****

Chapter 6: Landing

Adjusting his backpack, Sotaki headed out of Nerima. Snagging a map blowing past, he adjusted his course. The sun was just about to set as Sotaki left Nerima. Noticing his target coming his way, he ducked into an alley and waited for it to pass. Breathing light and treading lighter, he stalked his goal until it snuck in through the window of an abandoned arcade. Following close behind, he listened in as the black cat he was stalking gave its report to a battered arcade machine.

*How the heck Central Command got relocated here I'll never know. Should have stayed an out-of-commission soda machine with a non-detection field. At least that way it didn't get damaged.*

After the paranoid cat had finished giving her report and changing her password for the fifth time that night, Sotaki pulled out a notepad and wrote down a few notes about the method for activating Central Command. After that, he slowly slunk behind the cat as she exited. Following the cat through alleys, he carefully evaded her sight and hearing. After a few minutes of traveling, the cat arrived at a small house. Writing down the address in his notebook, purposely transposing the last two digits and changing one other detail, he looked up. Smiling to himself, he made a small ball of psychic power and sent it through the window. Surveying the sleeping girl inside, he confirmed her identity and planted a small tracer in her strangely rabbit-like hair with a few instructions. Sneaking out of Juuban, he quietly headed back to the park he landed near in Nerima. After a few excercises and a little meditation, he settled down in his sleeping bag and went to sleep.

The next morning Hikaru woke up and grinned, then winced as he felt how sore he was after yesterday's 'workout'. Sighing, he got up, washed up, had breakfast, packed his backpack and homework, hugged his parents, and headed to school. He felt his new-found confidence would help with dealing with Nabiki.

Meanwhile, Sotaki woke up, looked at his alarm clock, shrugged, punted the alarm clock into a bush, and went back to sleep.

A while later, he woke up, fried a pair of eggs, ate a pair of fried eggs, brushed his teeth, and headed over to Juuban. The flower festival was just setting up, and not many people were around. Drawing a deep breath, he held his hands out by his sides and powered up his psi. Searching for a very specific signature, he relaxed and got set up in an abandoned street. Tossing a few psi-balls around, he set them up very carefully and programmed them with some very specific instructions. After that, he quietly ducked into a nearby alley and from there hopped up onto the roof. Assuming a relaxed stance, he quietly set up a non-identification field around his face, put on a pair of skates, and started drawing the ki in the area. After a while, he placed lines of ki in key locations. Drawing out ten cans of spray-paint, he put them in a bandolier and donned it. He checked again on the signature he was tracking and noticed it had sprung. A demon had appeared in mid-air and was looking around for people to drain. It was seven feet tall, looked like solid brass, and was flaming. Fortunately, this was a commercial district, and wasn't that full this early in the day. After a few minutes, he glanced toward the opposite rooftop and felt the psi-ball he planted on the blonde, along with the copies it made of itself that had planted themselves on her friends. The girls were wearing ridiculously short-skirted school uniforms, and had assumed ridiculous poses to look down on the demon. Their meatball-headed leader opened her mouth and took a deep breath. "Evil demon wh-"

Suddenly, a sharp whistle echoed through the street. The demon looked up, puzzled. Guitar music followed, with a singing voice from the psi-balls Sotaki had planted.

_Well, I don't show off, don't criticize,  
I'm just living by my own feelings.  
And I won't give in, won't compromise,  
'Cause I only have a steadfast heart of gold.  
I don't know why I can't leave, though it might be tough,  
But I ain't out of control just living by my word.  
Don't ask me why, I don't need a reason,  
I got my way, my own way. _

Sotaki leaped off the roof and started grinding down a nearby railing, holding a can of spray-paint in each hand. Leaping to a power-line, he continued to grind along, right past the seven-foot-tall demon. Glancing at him and immediately regretting its decision, the demon clutched its eyes, which were now masked by a piece of blue graffiti in the shape of a kanji. Leaping an easy five feet, Sotaki landed on the demon's head and hopped off. Pulling back a fist, he started beating down on the demon.

_It doesn't matter now what happens,  
I will never give up the fight.  
Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight,  
It doesn't matter who is wrong or who is right. _

Every syllable was punctuated by a blow to the demon. Punches rained down on the demon in an unbreakable rhythm. Sotaki seemed an extention of the song playing around him. Something else was happening to the demon as well.

_Well, I don't look back, I don't need to,  
Time won't wait, and I got so much to do,  
Where do I stop, now it's all a blur, it's so unclear,  
Well, I don't know, but I can't be wrong. _

Leaping back, Sotaki took a breath and jumped over a swipe by the demon. Never breaking his flow, he kept punching the demon.

_It doesn't matter now what happens,  
I will never give up the fight,  
Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight,  
Put all the bets on the one you think is right! _

The girls on the roof suddenly realized that the boy below had been tagging the whole time, and the entire demon looked like one of the more colorful tags from the shadier area of the ward. The area around the demon had been tagged. The tag itself was colored blue and green, and looked like it was wreathed in flames. It was in the shape of 'Ran', the japanese character for 'chaos'. Six empty cans lay around the street.

Tossing away the now-empty cans in his hands, Sotaki pulled out two cans of black and started tagging in more purposeful patterns on the now-muzzy demon.

_Oh, it doesn't matter now what happens,  
I will never give up the fight.  
Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight,  
It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right._(1)

As he finished the last tag, the black kanji the demon had been covered with glowed with a pure-white light. The blue-skirted blue-haired girl's computer beeped, and the demon roared in pain before dispersing into ash. Sotaki smiled, waved at the girls, and snapped his fingers. A single spark fell down, and touched the fresh paint. The entire tag ignited in one bright flash, and flames leapt up. When the Senshi's vision cleared, Sotaki was gone and all that remained was colored fire, which soon died down leaving no trace it had ever been there. Baffled, the girls headed back to the Cherry Hill Shrine to discuss what they had seen.

*****

If you want to know how this songs and have an mp3 player of some sort head on over to link removed by formatting – it's easy enough to find these MP3s on Limewire or something> and check out "Live and Learn". Yes, I blatantly ripped of SA2. It just fit the mood so well.

chainchomp5


	8. Chapter 7

*standard disclaimer* I own none of the characters here except Sotaki. This is a tribute to Ranma, Sailor Moon, Slayers, Jet Set Radio, and others, and a way for me to express myself and relieve stress. Please don't sue, I don't have much.

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

Chinese

-Thoughts-

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES NUMBER)

*****

Chapter 7: Droplets

*****

At the Cherry Hill Temple, Ami Mizuno AKA Sailor Mercury was worried. The demons that had been attacking lately had been getting stronger, and although Sailor Pluto, the group's official "forecaster", said they would level off, Ami was starting to get suspicious. The readings she had gotten from their 'assistant' had been strange. She recalled the boy who had taken down the youma, and blushed a little. Even over the distance they had been she still felt the pure confidence behind the grin. The fact that he had taken down a youma with nothing but eight cans of spraypaint didn't hurt either.

Makoto Kino and Minako Aino AKA Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus, respectively, were both thinking along the same lines, minus the part about the youma.

Rei Hino AKA Sailor Mars was infuriated that someone was muscling in on their territory.

Usagi Tsukino AKA Meatball Head AKA Sailor Moon was thinking of ice cream.

They all snapped out of their private thoughts as Setsuna Meio AKA Sailor Pluto groaned. She was not a happy Sailor. In the past day she had been experiencing a pounding headache, the usual symptom whenever the timeline shifted drastically. Furthermore, whenever she tried to track the boy from the attack, the Time Gates started showing all sorts of crazy things. A girl with red hair blasting a huge dark god, a blonde swordsman, a group of martial artists fighting at obscene speeds, a pair of green goggles, a radio station, a can of spraypaint, a brain, and a crater were all that she could make out in the morass that was the Time Gates.

"Someone get me some aspirin..."

The rest of the girls stared at her, wondering what could have such an effect on the woman whose self-control you could wrap an iron bar around.

*****

Sotaki grinned as he skated along Juuban. School would be over soon, so he'd have to start heading home soon. He did one last flip, turned around, jumped on a fence, and rushed back to Nerima.

*****

Hikaru grinned as he ran along the hallway. School was over, so he'd get to learn more magic. He headed outside to the tree and sat down.

A few seconds later, Sotaki came into view, grinding the fence and looking like he didn't have a care in the world. Hopping off, he turned to Hikaru. "How's it goin'?"

Hikaru blinked. "So-so. Why are you wearing skates?"

"Because it's fun. Now get these on." Sotaki tossed a pair of green and yellow skates at Hikaru. Putting them on, Hikaru started wobbling along. Letting him lead, Sotaki started chatting.

"So, what's not great about today?"

"Well, there's a girl at my school called Nabiki, and she scams me for money. I've tried to get Saotome several times he doesn't know about, and she's charging me for her silence. It costs nearly all my allowance."

"Hm... there's a way around that, you know." Sotaki gave an infuriatingly smug smirk.

"You're kidding me. If there was a way I'd have seen it by now. And you DID forbid me from using what you're teaching me." Hikaru wasn't too confident, though.

Sotaki nodded. "No, No, and Yes. You don't have to use magic. First, lemme ask you this. Did you look at Akane today?"

"No, I forgot. I was too bus-" Hikaru tried to make an excuse,

"Busy looking at Akane?" Sotaki continued grinning.

"When you put it like that it sounds kinda silly." Hikaru blushed, actually displaying some color for once.

"Ah the heck with it. You're probably not gunna get around to it anyway. I'll tell you what you WOULD see.

"Red. Almost solid blood-red. She has FAR too much anger, and she is a spoiled brat. Despite the fact that the Tendos don't exactly have all the yen they want she almost always got what she wanted. Whenever she made a mistake, her father assured her it was OK, Nabiki blackmailed people into ignoring it, and Kasumi cleaned it up. She's always been the most popular girl in school, and she's never done anything to warrant it. Granted, it was traumatic when her mother passed away, but jeez, she's got two role-models of perfect control, and instead of taking a page from their book in terms of how to live your life well she just tries to look and act like them. Then when it doesn't work she lashes out at someone, usually Ranma. She's liable to kill someone one of these days.

"She doesn't trust anyone. She's seen Ranma's other fiances hang all over him, and seen him actively push them away, concluded that he was a pervert who was feeling them up, and malleted him into the next district over.

"The Super Soba incident, Ranma tried to warn her about the side effects but she ignored him. P-Chan, Ranma tries to warn her but she percieves it as Ranma picking on P-Chan. Ryoga tries to KILL Ranma. He announces his intentions, and uses lethal weapons to try to crush Ranma. He didn't know the Breaking Point wouldn't work on Ranma - and yet he still tried it on him. Akane mallets him for 'picking on Ryoga'. Ranma's saved her several times. He's done his best to improve her. He didn't have ANY role models growing up, and never had any friend but one: Ukyo. He's been thrown in pits of starving cats, as you are aware." Here, Hikaru looked abashed. "He's been raised all his life to believe that girls are weak, and then had his father make him turn into one essentially out of petty-minded revenge. He does his best. Akane mallets him. And you contribute to the Hell that is his life. And yet, despite the fact that he killed a kami, notice that he never actually permanently injures any of his rivals. He could easily cripple or kill Kuno, Mousse, Shampoo, or any of the moronic challengers. And yet, he forgives them."

Hikaru was once again stunned. To think that his idol was a violent, spoiled brat nearly shattered his world, and the fact that his rival had such a horrible childhood and still was a much better man than he had thought finished off his remaining illusions.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you have to accept it. The only way for you to get anywhere in life is to apologise to Ranma for everything you have done, and be his friend. God knows he needs a friend."

Hikaru skated along for a while. Sotaki, leaving him to ponder, jumped up onto the fence Ranma usually ran along and started doing tricks, flips and several things which should have been impossible.

A few minutes later, the sound of running feet reached them. Hikaru's head snapped up, and he sighed. "You're right. It's the least I owe him."

Sotaki nodded his approval. "Wonderful."

Slowing down, the duo turned around. Akane was dragging Ranma by his pigtail. Hikaru skated up to them, Sotaki trailing behind.

"Ranma!" Akane stopped, and dropped the pigtail, and, thus, Ranma. After getting back up off the ground, Ranma sighed and turned to face Hikaru. "What? Come to try to get me again? Or ran out of hair to make dolls with and need some more?"

Hikaru shook his head. "Actually, I've come to apologize. A friend of mine helped me see that everything I have done was wrong. The voodoo, letting Kuno know your weakness, the photos, the One Punch, the paper dolls. I apologize for it all, and would like to be your friend. If you ever need any help with magic, please let me know."

Ranma brightened up at this news. *Looks like someone in Nerima finally grew a brain. I wonder if anyone else will follow suit. Naah.* "Actually, there is something you could help me with. Of course, you probably know what it is..."

Hikaru shrugged. "I'm not that good, but I know someone who might be... Sotaki, could you help out here?"

Sotaki hopped off the fence after a particularly long handstand and skated up. Ranma blinked, not having noticed him before, or seen him around before today. "Who are you? More importantly, how did you get on that fence? I could have sworn you weren't there a minute ago."

"I'm Sotaki. I'm a friend of Hikaru's. So, you're Ranma. Let's see." Pulling out a book out of his backpack, Sotaki leafed through. "Let's see. Shape shifting, shape shifting. Here it is, Jusenkyo. Attracts water, changes with water, generates chaos, grants abilities of cursed form in both forms, incurable, controllable with proper training, erases throughts of logical workarounds like thermoses... Yup, looks like a standard case. If you're willing to work for it, you can gain control."

"Hey! I'm the best! There's no way I can't get this!"

"Ok, then. If you want it that bad... what time's good for you?"

"As soon as possible. I never wanna be a girl again!"

"Well, Hikaru and I were just about to go skating. I'll help you out while we skate, 'k?"

"Wonderful. Lead the way. Akane, you tell the rest of the gang that I'll be a while, OK? Don't worry about me, I'll be back soon."

"Hmph! Why would anyone be worried about a pervert like you! You've probably set this whole thing up as an excuse to go cavort with your floozies. Fine, see if I care." She stalked off in a righteous huff.

Sotaki sighed. "She's almost as delusional as Kuno, isn't she?"

Ranma nodded. "Yea-Hey! How do you know Kuno?"

"Well, a guy who gets beaten up daily and thinks that's a token of love isn't the brightest bulb in the house, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ranma noticed that Sotaki had cleverly deflected his question, but didn't press the matter.

Hopping up on the fence, Sotaki and Ranma continued to banter. Hikaru was lagging behind when Sotaki called to him.

"Hey, Hikaru! Hop up on the fence!"

"I can't! I'll fall down!"

"Don't worry, try it anyway. If it makes you feel better think of the fence as your shadow."

Hikaru hopped up and found to his amazement he could stay on quite easily. Wobbling a little, he sped up and cought up to the still-chatting teens. "So, where are we going?"

Sotaki shrugged. "I dunno. Ranma, know any good places with a few rails around?"

"Well, there's always the abandoned construction site..."

"Great! That's perfect! Let's roll!"

Skating (or dashing, in the case of Ranma) forward, the teens headed toward the promised lot.

"Say, Sotaki?"

"Yeah, Ranma?"

"What's up with your aura? It's moving way too fast to be normal. Hikaru's changed too... you aren't a demon, are you?"

"Not as such, no. What's with your aura? It's frosty, part-invisible, part-brutal, and extremely large?"

"Ah, that's just my school's effects... oh."

"Looks like we've arrived," interrupted Hikaru. The site looked like it was for a factory, however, it had never gotten past the first story so it was essentially a few blocks of concrete and many many railings and I-beams. Sotaki grinned and leaped onto one of the rails. Grinding along, he took a deep breath and thrust out a hand as he passed a concrete block. When he had passed, the block was tagged with a lurid-looking 'Ran' kanji. Hopping off the railing, he thrust an arm in to the air and did a spin.

"YES! YES! WOOO YEAH!"

Ranma and Hikaru stared. "What was that?" they asked simultaneously.

"That... was my new technique. No more spraypaint! No more spraypaint!"

Ranma blinked. "You're a martial artist?"

"I practice my own style but I don't really like fighting. I'm more of a universial trouble-shooter. Of course, that's not to say I don't make any problems!" He grinned. "Anyway, that was psychic energy passed through a filter of Demona Crystal. It is solidified psychic energy, so these graffitti should have special properties. This one should cause chaos until inactivated." Tossing a few pebbles lying around at the tag, Sotaki happily nodded. The pebbles themselves had strange things happen to them. The first melted but froze the grass it landed on, one pebble lit up like a neon light, one pebble was emitting sparks, and one just disappeared.

Ranma blinked. "Could I learn that?"

"Well, that depends. How clever are you?" Sotaki imagined what fun he could have if he was Ranma's sensei, or at least advisor.

"Not very..."

"Ah, an honest admission of ignorance. You're able to learn it then."

Ranma, after he had recovered from his facefault, shrugged. "Now, about my curse..."

"Right. Now, you can see auras?"

"Yup. Why?"

"I'm going to set up an aura-mirror. I'm not good enough to make it reflect auras in terms of strength, but it'll be close enough so you can figure out what's what."

Taking a few steps back, Sotaki held his hands to his chest, palms apart. A shimmering sphere formed between his hands. Moving his left hand up and dropping his right hand, he stretched the sphere into a translucent mirror. Suddenly, the shimmering energy disappeared.

"Didn't it work?" Hikaru was puzzled.

"Ranma, please stand in front of where you saw the mirror and sense in front of you."

Ranma obeyed, and nearly fell over. "That's MY aura!"

"Yup. Since auras aren't usually visible, their mirror shouldn't be visible. Now, this mirror is pretty weak so even if you pull up a battle aura you won't see much, but it's good for the purpose. Now sit in front of the mirror and contemplate yourself. Tell me what you see when you're done, or I ask you."

Ranma assumed a meditative posture, wondering what he was supposed to see.

"Now, Hikaru, today will be mostly Kinesis since we don't want Ranma to freak out. Don't tell Ranma, but there's a small field around the mirror, and most people wouldn't be able to look away, or notice they're being fooled with. In the mean time, you're going to practice skating. See what you can do, and expand that."

Hikaru took off toward one of the rails uncertainly, and tried hopping on. However, he thought about it too much and jumped too hard. Sailing clear over the rail, he landed on the edge of one of the cement blocks. Flailing his arms, he managed to catch his balance.

Up ahead of him, the cement block ended. Crouching, Hikaru jumped and flipped twice, landing on a rail. Relaxing, he realized that the tenser he was the more frightened he got. Allowing himself to simply move with the rail, he transferred over to another beam, and then got a grin on his face as he saw a telephone pole up ahead. Doing nothing to stop himself, he simply jumped and twisted. Looking like he would land on his back, Hikaru connected his skates with the telephone pole and started grinding straight up. At the top, he flew off and landed on a wire. Realizing where he was, he decided to get down. Hopping onto a tilted pole, he travelled downward, but misjudged the angle of the pole on the ground and tripped at the ending.

Peeling himself off the ground, he looked around. He had landed near where he started, and Sotaki was applauding. "All RIGHT! That was awesome. Just work work on the landing and you'll be a pro in no time."

"What does this have to do with Kinesis?"

"How did you grind up that telephone pole?"

"I realized that I was moving fast enough to do it, and I just ignored the angles. I gave my direction a little push and it just changed."

"That's the basis of Kinesis. The body is moving EXTREMELY fast, just in circles. Atoms vibrate, electrons dance, neurons pulse, your heart beats, your blood flows. Life is movement. So, Kinesis harnesess the movement, just as other styles harness the energy in another way."

"Oh."

"Right, now, keep practicing. Your jump height is a little low, but what you really need to work on is control. You get freaked out way too easily. Try drawing some shadow. Keep a tight hold of it; there isn't usually a whole lot of shadow in midair."

Hikaru went back to skating. Sotaki ambled over to where Ranma was busy staring at not much. "So, what did you see?"

Ranma shrugged. "Lots. Mosty blue, but beneath that blue was a lot of red. I saw half a pink thread heading away from me to somewhere, and saw a few half-threads heading toward me. Some were red, and others were pink. A few were blue."

"Half-threads? All threads are whole threads, right?"

"Not these... they just sort of faded out like into fog."

Sotaki tilted his head. "You want me to explain it?"

"Go ahead, I've got no ideas anyway."

In the background, Hikaru smacked into a block. After a while, he got back up and continued skating, surprised at the lack of damage to either himself or the block. The block sat still, impassive.

"The blue is your confidence, but you already know that. The hidden red is your anger at all that's been happening to you. It's mostly directed inward, at not being able to stop these things from happening. The pink threads are love. Your pink thread is heading toward who you love, even if you deny it. The other threads are those who love you. The red is those who are angry at you, and the blue is those who have confidence in you."

"I'm not angry at anyone!"

"No, you're angry at no one. But you ARE angry. Admit it and you'll be able to overcome it. Like Hikaru said, need some help just ask."

Ranma's stomach interrupted with its interpretation of the situation.

Ranma laughed nervously and scratched the base of his pigtail. "Ahehehe..."

Sotaki's stomach answered.

Sotaki blinked. "Lunch time it is, then." Whipping out a couple of logs, Sotaki lit them and put a greased pan on the fire. "How about some fried fish?"

Ranma shrugged. "Never had pan-fried fish before."

Sotaki grinned. "Yo, Hikaru, is fried fish for lunch ok?"

Hikaru nodded. "I was planning on buying lunch, but if it's not too much I'll have a piece."

Sotaki nodded. "All right." Pulling out a few pieces of thawed fish and some flour, he quickly seasoned and breaded them and tossed them on the pan. A few minutes later, he flipped them over. Hikaru spent his time skating, while Ranma talked with Sotaki. "So, what style do you practice?"

Sotaki gave it some thought. "Well, I never named it. Essentially, it focuses on unpredictability, much like yours. However, there's a method to my madness. Generally, I fight to music. Also, I never fight straight."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I use esoteric moves to defeat my opponent. Either I use something that's the enemy's weakness, or I use something that's their strength. And I always use it in unpredictable ways. For instance, if I wanted to banish a demon, I would use skates and spraypaint - because you don't usually think that a punk fighting a demon would win."

Ranma was intrigued. "How's that work?"

"Well, I just tag it with wards until it's banished. Of course, now that I can tag without spraypaint, it becomes much easier, 'cause I can punch without crushing my cans."

"That's what I do."

"No it isn't. You fight any way you can, but you almost always use the same moves on everyone. For instance, I've been hearing about a lot of tornados around recently. Not everyone's susceptible to being drained by a tornado, you know. Some people wouldn't even get cought."

"That's what insults are for."

"True, but if you were really that into chaos you would be able to defeat them with insults alone."

"Oh come on, that's just not possible."

"No? All righty then. On Monday, I'll arrive before you, and beat Kuno up without launching a single attack."

"You're on!"

"Fish is done."

"Wow, that was fast."

"I'll say. Hey, Hikaru. Come on down and have some fish!"

Hikaru landed from the flip he was in, and skated over to Sotaki.

Ranma looked at Sotaki, suspicious. "Since when could he do that?"

Sotaki grinned, closed his eyes, brought his hand to his face, extended his index finger, and said smugly "Now that..." Ranma leaned closer. "Is a secret." Ranma facefaulted, and recovered in time to see Sotaki pry himself off the ground with a fridge on his head. "Ow. Darn lousy spying..." The appliance vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind nothing but a large lump on Sotaki's head. "Where were we? Ah yes. I was serving up food," said Sotaki as he pulled out three plates and three sets of chopsticks, flipped some fish onto each, and pulled out a frighteningly large loaf of bread, "pouring drinks," along with three mugs and a steaming teapot. "and annoying the living daylights out of you. Dig in!"

All three poured themselves some tea and started demolishing fish, some faster than others.

After Ranma had finished off his fifty-second piece of fish, he stopped to wonder where all this food was coming from, since he only counted five pieces of fish on the pan. "Mphere'd thish fish come from?" he said around several mouthfuls of food.

"Magic pan. It replicates what's on it until the meal's last serving and one more time."

"Why one more time?"

"Leftovers."

Ranma nodded. This was good caloric practice in his opinion. "Well, thanks for the meal. I'll ponder what you said; you do seem like an OK guy. See ya!" He hopped on a fence and dashed away. Sotaki mimed throwing something after him. Hikaru stared at him.

"What was that?"

"A tracker. I figure it's helpful to know where he is."

"Oh."

A few pieces of fish and gulps of tea later, they were skating again, albiet slower than before. Suddenly, Hikaru was knocked off the rail he was grinding by a Bomb Spread.

"Hey! What's the big idea?"

"You're good at dodging on foot. Now we try it on wheels! Get moving!"

Hikaru weaved between the five blasts that followed, and laughed to himself. -A week ago if you told me I would do this I would have laughed in your face, or cowered. Now look at me!- The robe that Sotaki hurled at him took Hikaru by surprise, as Sotaki had cast his Flare Quiver again and was preparing to hurl Flare Arrows. Soon, Hikaru was panting and dodging increasingly-more-damaging spells. One actually almost hit him, and the resulting blast knocked him to the highest point of the abandoned iron frame the factory was being built on. The blasts that were incoming were probably not going to be dodged considering his current balance, so he did the only thing he could.

"BOMB SPREAD!"

The hastily-cast blast de-stabilized halfway through the spell and nearly knocked Hikaru off his perch. However, it served his purpose and detonated the Flare Arrows a few feet shy of him. Deciding to try something new, Hikaru held both hands out in front of him, and slowly drew back his right arm. A red longbow formed in his hand, and he was drawing back the string. Grinding down, he released the string and called out the attack's name. With a resounding "FLARE ARROW!" Hikaru tried to release the string. Unfortunately, he wasn't used to casting while moving (much less casting in general), and the spell destabilized. Hikaru leaped up just in time, and dodged the worst of the blast.

Sotaki applauded. "Well, I think I can safely say you've learned how to avoid your own spells. You want me to teach you how to actually cast a spell?"

Hikaru was excited, to say the least. "YEAH!"

"Well, that kinda bites, because I can't. You have to learn your own spells. The best I can do is show them to you, and if you're wise you'll learn what they do first hand, and learn how to counter them. Essentially, the only way to gain spells is to defeat them. Of course you could make your own, but you need SOME mastery of magic.

"Now, the sun is setting, so it's time for you to go home. I'll show you one more spell. Light which burns beyond crimson flame, let thy power gather in my hand! LIGHTING!" Upon these words Sotaki's fist lit up a brilliant white, illuminating the area. "Now you try!"

Hikaru concentrated, drawing the fading light to his hand. "Light which burns beyond crimson flame, let thy power gather in my hand! LIGHTING!" The spell drained him, and his light wasn't anywhere near as bright or clear as Sotaki's, but it was there. Hikaru kneeled, panting.

Sotaki nodded. "Wonderful. You should practice to bring up your mana reserves. I explicitly allow you to use Lighting in practice provided no one sees you."

Hikaru smiled. "I'll do that."

Sotaki's face split into a grin. "Great! Go home, put your feet up, take a rest."

Watching Hikaru skate home, he sat down and packed up everything into his backpack. Concentrated, he carefully channeled some air energy into his legs. His form seemed to blur, and he grinned. "Now to try out that other new technique..."

Sotaki dashed towards Juuban, blurring further as he exceeded 100 mph with ease. Bouncing off of rooftops and walls, he moved like lightning through the streets of Japan. Slowing down after a few minutes of travel time, he released the power in his legs. Pulling out his notebook, he looked at the first address on the page. Returning his notebook to its place, he took a deep breath and sensed for the dark signature he expected. He wasn't disappointed. Heading over to the signature, he got ready for the demon attack. Deciding a more dramatic entrance would be appropriate, he scattered psi-balls as speakers again, this time with a different melody. Unbinding his ponytail, he ducked into an abandoned warehouse and emerged wearing a black gi with a red flame pattern embroidered on it and loose white pants.

Running up a wall, he reached a rooftop. Waiting for the inevitable strike, he amused himself by seeing how many different balls of colored light he could make dance in different patterns. When he had reached a stable five, he sensed nine familiar auras. Standing up, he conjured up a wind. Glancing down, he saw a demon that looked like animated armor, wielding a sword of pure energy. Standing with his face to the moon and his back to the demon and spectators, he triggered the psi-balls. A soulful song started playing.

Aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai

Where's my samurai?

Sotaki turned, his face silhouetted by moonlight.

I've been searching for a man

All across Japan

Just to find

To find my samurai!

Someone who is strong

But still a little shy

Yes I need

I need my samurai!

Sotaki leaped down from the building headfirst. Flipping at the last second, he landed lightly, bobbing to the beat. Drawing a katana from nowhere, he leapt forward at the demon. Slashing in rhythm, Sotaki started breaking through the demon's defenses. When it was staggered, he leapt upward, becoming a shadow in the moonlit sky.

Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly

Green, black, and blue

Make good colors in the sky

Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly

Green, black, and blue

Make good colors in the sky

Spreading his arms, he called upon his power and drew colored flames along his arms, changing the red flames on his gi to black. Heading downward again, he readied his Katana. The demon hopped back just in time, and barely avoided losing an arm. Sotaki stopped the attack and hopped back, still moving in time to the beat.

I've been searching in the woods

And high up on the hills

Just to find

To find my samurai

Someone who won't regret

To keep me in this net

Yes I need

I need my samurai

Pressing the offensive again, Sotaki slashed at the demon's head and shoulders at every syllable. Once again at the end of the verse he leapt, this time not up but back.

Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly

Green, black, and blue

Make good colors in the sky

Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly

Green, black, and blue

Make good colors in the sky

Gathering the flames to his katana, he dashed forward, slashing at speeds rivalling the Amugeriken. Of course, the Senshi, not having been trained to see such things, merely saw him slash twice. The demon's sword was now little more than a long sliver of metal.

_Aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai _

_Where's my samurai _

_Aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai _

_Where's my samurai _

Sotaki seemed to blur from view, kicking and punching the demon to stun it. Dancing around its attacks, he delivered a royal beat-down. By this time the demon itself was starting to crack.

_Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly _

_Green, black, and blue _

_Make good colors in the sky _

_Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly _

_Green, black, and blue _

_Make good colors in the sky _

_Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly _

_Green, black, and blue _

_Make good colors in the sky _

_Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly _

_Green, black, and blue _

_Make good colors in the sky _

Sotaki delivered two more flaming strikes, this time severing the demon's sword and slashing off the top of its helmet and one of its shoulderguards.

_Aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai _

_Where's my samurai _

_Aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai, aiyaiyai _

_Where's my samurai _

Sotaki dodged one last feeble blow by the demon and started another powered assault. Jumping halfway through the verse, he literally rained blows upon the demon.

_Aiyaiyai! I'm your little butterfly _

_Green, black, and blue _

_Make good colors in the sky. _

Leaping higher than before, Sotaki sheathed his sword in flame for the last time tonight and aimed very carefully. Reversing direction without bothering about things like inertia and Newton's Laws, he flew down at a godly speed, slowly pulling up. He disappeared right before he hit the demon. He reappeared behind it in the strike position. Cuts in the shape of wards opened up all over the demon, and it disintegrated into nothingness.

Once again he turned and grinned at the Senshi, but this time he didn't vanish. Instead he ran up the side of the building they were standing on, leaped over their heads and landed in a crouch behind the warriors of love and justice. As they turned around they got their first good look at their twice-assistant.

Assuming a wise expression and a solemn tone of voice, Sotaki stared deeply into their eyes, penetrating their very soul, and spoke:

"How the heck do you fight in those costumes?"

After the group recovered from its facefaults and near-facefaults(Mercury and Pluto were too controlled to fault, although in Mercury's case it was close), Usagi answered for the group. "I'll have you know that these are regal and valuable outfits dating back thousands of years. They are extremely powerful magical armor, and-"

"Something out of a pervert's dreams. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look in those skirts?"

Mercury coughed. "Actually, I thought about that before..." She blushed beet red as the rest stared at her. Finally, Rei spoke up. "How the heck did you know we fight?"

"Well, let's see. You showed up when the Demon did, you watched me fight it, you didn't help it, and you all assumed silly poses and seemed to be about to deliver a speech. Even if I DIDN'T know about the Senshi, then I'd be fairly inclined to guess that you did in fact fight the demons."

Once again, simple logic did what a million authors couldn't.

Mercury was puzzled. "But why take down demons like you do?"

"There are three reasons. The first: Demons are my training dummies. I use some very powerful techniques, and I need to practice them against moving targets. The second: I fight to songs. My discipline allows me to fight much better to tunes. And the third, and most important: It's fun."

Again, only Ami and Setsuna resisted the urge to facefault.

"No, really. The world is a dull place. Day in and day out people go through their groove wearing it just a bit deeper each and every time. Their minds degenerate, as do their souls. Boredome and ennui set in, replacing the struggle that is life, and the conflicts that make people stronger. Why, the worst thing in the world I could imagine is everyone happy, or everyone sad. Variety is the spice of life."

Sailor Moon had the decency to look abashed. Jupiter coughed, and Venus blushed. "Um... actually we're trying to found a new government based on happiness..." Having heard what Sotaki had said, Sailor Moon was starting to feel embarassed. Doubt had set in to the previously rock-hard certainty of the state of Crystal Tokyo.

"Hm. And exactly how were you going to go about founding this state?"

"Um... I was going to use my crystal brooch..." The words sounded silly to Moon's ears.

"Could I get a few more details? What was the plan? A cataclysm of earth-shaking proportions, right? Maybe the earth freezing over?" Sailor Pluto glanced around, suddenly very nervous. "Humanity despairing and then whoop, here come our saviors! That sort of thing? Hm, let me think as to who tried this little scheme before... There was Stalin, Mao, Hitler, and, to some extent, most every major tyrant in history. The funny thing is most of them didn't manufacture the cataclysm that they promised to save from. Germany was royally SCREWED at the end of World War I. Hitler, granted, redirected all the rage of the people at the Jews, but he didn't put everyone in that position."

Most of the Sailors suddenly realized exactly what they had been doing, and where they had been heading. Pluto tried to teleport away, but the Time Gates would not respond to her call.

Unusually, it was Sailor Moon who asked the question that brought down the whole scheme. "Setsuna? Would you enlighten us as to exactly what would happen in Crystal Tokyo?"

Setsuna tried a tack that had worked before. "Millions would prosper! I swear!"

Sotaki frowned. "The population of the world is rapidly approaching 6 billion, Setsuna. In managerial terms, "Millions" tends to mean '2,000,001'. Now, care to explain what would happen to the rest?"

"They would die in the freeze! There's nothing I can do to stop it! I'm just trying to make the best of a bad situation! An experiment would go wrong but I can't tell which one! AND HOW DID YOU KNOW MY NAME?"

"Hm... YOU can't do squat. Of course, you've got 8 fairly-capable warriors pretty much wrapped around your ring finger. It didn't occur to you that it might be a good idea to stop this freeze WHY? Because then people would know that there are magical girls out there, is that it? Because you'd have media attention. You know, that's a flimsy selfish excuse at best. I MIGHT consider parts of your argument valid IF YOU WEREN'T ALREADY FRONT-PAGE NEWS IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS! You save the world on a regular basis but you don't have the guts to convince a few scientists to take a few extra safety precautions? As a matter of fact, I suspect the batch of experiments that 'might go wrong' are all funded by a ' S. Meiou', am I right? After all, artifacts sell for millions these days, and all you have to do is take any old piece of crap to whatever time period you want, hide it in an unlikely spot, and come back to today and sell it off, right? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE, SAILOR PLUTO? THE TIME GATES WERE MEANT TO BE USED TO PROTECT THE TIMELINES! THEY WERE NOT MEANT TO PROMOTE THE RESURRECTION OF THE GHOSTS OF A LONG-DEAD KINGDOM AT THE COSTS OF 299 OUT OF EVERY 300 LIVES! CRYSTAL TOKYO SHOULD NEVER COME ABOUT BECAUSE IT IS DOOMED FROM THE BEGINNING! HOW DO YOU THINK DARK MOON DESTROYED THE FUTURE SENSHI SO EASILY?"

Pluto broke down. "I DIDN'T WANT TO! THE FREEZE IS THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THE DARKNESS! Chaos would take over the world otherwise! Are you saying Galaxia, Doomtree, Wiseman, the Witches 5, Pharaoh 90, and Beryl were all right?"

"No, of course not. Their goal was to conquer. Chaos is not good or evil, and neither is law. Think of it like this: The more uniform the alignment of the universe is, the more order there is. There would be order whether good conquered or evil. The problem is that there will be much more order because good conquered. Chaos is the inverse of law, so the more balanced good and evil are the more chaos there is. Now, without enough order, chaos simply means destruction. Order without chaos simply means stagnation. Together, they mean growth. In military terms, you can either recruit more soldiers or train them.

"Look at the future; Crystal Tokyo pretty much got wiped out because of the actions of a few kids with delusions of grandeur. The Senshi who were living in their paradise couldn't stop them, but the Senshi who were living in the real world could.

"However, most of the people you've defeated are small fry. You've been struggling against these demons, your leader can barely walk without tripping, you depend on one person to analyze the foe's weakness, you've got a few barely-contained powerhouses, one of which is bullied daily at school, from the looks of things, and you've got one enigmatic self-righteous smug Ms. Someone-shoved-a-baseball-bat-into-my-colon-at-birth who's the real brains behind the outfit but seems to send you on suicide missions more often than not.

"Now, you're all good people, that I don't doubt. But as a team and as individuals you all need work desperately. What exactly would you do against monsters that attacked simultaneously in different locations?"

Venus spoke up. "They don't attack in different locations at the same time. Rule is, one monster a day maximum, generally not on school hours."

Sotaki sighed and buried his face in his hand. "Do you have any idea just how stupid that sounded? One of these days someone will muster up two brain cells and then you'll all be screwed, you know that? You're fighting badly using out-dated wimpy powers against local and time-hopping idiots for a future that you just realized you don't want at the behest of someone who you barely know, supported by a pest from the future, claiming it's all for 'love and justice', looking like some pervert's fantasy, and making silly speeches?"

The girls sweatdropped, once again stunned by just quite how silly their activities sounded when rephrased.

Sailor Moon showed some defiance. "HEY! We've saved the world at least five times now! Give us a break!"

"You and about a million others. You saved the world on dumb luck. That won't hold up forever. You need to get better fast or else someone else will step in."

"What do you mean? We haven't had any opportunity to train, nor do we know how to."

"Well, why not ask Pluto? She was around, she knew your past lives, and she knew how you trained to get to your peaks."

Sailor Pluto once again tried to get away. This time, Sotaki pulled a dagger out of his backpack and tossed it at Pluto. "SHADOW SNAP!" The Senshi all gasped. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" screamed Moon. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!"

Setsuna, meanwhile, was frozen in her tracks. Looking back, she saw the dagger imbedded in her shadow. She could move just fine as long as her shadow stayed on the blade. Trying to leave was impossble.

"I kept her from making a fast break. She's already tried to teleport at least twice. She's got a LOT of answering to do, although I suspect that she's open to reason, am I right?"

Setsuna nodded dumbly. Here was a man who had appeared out of nowhere, stopped her powers, immobilized her, and revealed all her plans to the rest of the Senshi. What was he going to do next?

"Seeing as I'm a nice guy and I don't think I want the Earth enslaved by a passing dark power, I'll make you an offer I'm not gonna make again. I'll train you to defend the Earth against passing threats, demonic and otherwise."

Mercury, the sharpest in the group, frowned. "What's the catch?"

"Stopping a major cataclysm that wipes out almost all of humanity, and no trying to brainwash the world into happy zombies."

Sailor Moon nodded readily. "Deal."

Sotaki nodded, and vanished, taking his dagger with him.

*****

Meanwhile our favorite martial artist was running for his life. The reason for this was the horde of martial artists chasing him. Various battle cries resounded through the ward.

"Airen! Come eat too too delicous ramen!"

"Ranchan, I made you your favorite okinomiyaki!"

"Ohohohohohohohohohohohoho! Ranma-sama, let us elope! I'm ready for the marriage!"

"RANMA! HOW DARE YOU FLIRT WITH ALL THESE GIRLS! AND WHILE I'M HERE, NO LESS! DIE!"

"FOUL SORCEROR! Come and die!"

"Son-in-law, are you ready to come back to China with us like a good male?"

"RANMA! How dare you cheat on Akane?"

"For stealing my beloved Shampoo, you must die!"

"Ungrateful boy, come and unite the schools!"

-Is what Sotaki said true? Do I hate these people? They try to kill me or get me killed daily, they never listen to what I say, they abuse me physically and mentally, they milk me for money, they take my food, they accuse me of things I would rather die than do, and they never trust me. They never treat me like a human being!-

Struck by this realization, Ranma stopped dead. Of course, the crowd behind him didn't, and the result was a flattened, glomped, nearly-sliced-in-two, nearly-drugged, pounded pulp of a martial artist.

*****

Venus was infuriated. "WHAT?" She shrieked. "You don't know this guy! He comes out of nowhere, defeats two demons without using any spells, insults us and our accomplishments, plays with our heads, changes our long-term goals in less than five minutes, and now you want to TRAIN UNDER HIM?"

Mars nodded. "Yes. He did all that and hasn't hurt us. He didn't attack us, he convinced us that what we were heading for was wrong. From his aura I can tell he has obscene amounts of power. He's offering to train us, to give us a chance against the demons. Are you proposing we turn him down? If so, what are the alternatives?" Her tone was controlled, but only barely.

Jupiter, trying to play diplomat, got between the two Senshi. "How about we take a vote? Whoever wants training can accept it. Whoever doesn't want it can choose to come along anyway to ensure our safety or can miss out altogether. How's that sound?"

The rest of the group agreed it was reasonable, and soon split up into two groups. Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn all decided to accept Sotaki's offer. Venus, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto all decided to try to stay as far away from Sotaki as possible.

"I'm glad you girls can see your own faults. Not many these days can. Unfortunately, I have a few appointments, so the best I can do is a day full of training in a couple of days. There might be someone else there, but don't panic. He won't tell anyone who you are."

Although this wasn't what they had bargained for, the Senshi who had accepted the deal nodded reluctantly. After all, some help is better than none, right?

*****

What's the next crossover gonna be? There's just enough elements now, so I'm gonna stop bringing in new characters... but I AM gonna have an obligatory cameo... let's see...

*tosses a ball onto a spinning modified roulette wheel*

Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows.

*Roulette wheel stops*

Well, I stand corrected. I know where it stopped... Oh boy. How am I gonna tie that in? Maybe a nifty artifact? *grumble*.

BTW, sorry about the delay but I hate small chapters and I've decided to make bigger ones. From now on all chapters will be this big or more so.

Yeah. kind of bites as well in how easily it loses data... if I didn't write all my chapters in Notepad, you wouldn't be looking at this right now. 


	9. Chapter 8

*standard disclaimer* I own none of the characters here except Sotaki. This is a tribute to Ranma, Sailor Moon, layers, Jet Set Radio, and others, and a way for me to express myself and relieve stress. Please don't sue, I don't have much.  
*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES)

*****

Chapter 8: Bubbles

*****

Sunday rolled out, Monday rolled in. The maniac, the apprentice, and the martial artist all got up with their respective rituals and headed to school. Hikaru was curious as to how Sotaki would stomp Kuno without throwing a single punch, Ranma was eager to be defeated, and hoping that Kuno would finally get a clue.

Sotaki whistled as he strolled to Furinkan about half an hour before the first bell rang. Approaching the delusional kendoist's hiding spot he called out. "Tatewaki Kuno, I challenge you to a duel of honor! These young men who have gathered here today shall be our witnesses! Now come out and try me!"

"WHO DARES? I SHALL SMITE THEE!" Kuno leapt from behind the tree, live steel drawn and flying.

"Cease your attack, for thine temper is far too short. You have attacked someone who has done more than issue a challenge. The battle I desire is not of swords but of words."

Kuno ceased his charge. "Very well, I shall deign to meet your challenge."

"There is a man, in a faraway land. Since you belong to a powerful family, it is up to you to judge him."

"I see no point in this, but I will humor thou for now. Speak, knave."

"Now, I shall tell this man's tale. His life was hard, but not worse than anyone else's. He had a sister and two loving parents, along with all the money they could ever spend. His mother was taken from them at an early age. His sister and he were devastated, and both were changed. Now, neither of them believes than ANYONE can be better than them in any way, shape or form."

"The fool is guilty of hubris, then."

"Wise judgement. Now, the brother attended a public highschool. He obsessed over a girl, and harassed her every day. Every day he accosted her, and every day she beat him away. He proclaimed that anyone who defeated her could have a date. Despite the fact that this would probably lead to her rape, he not only allowed these attacks but actually encouraged them. Every day she denied any affection, and in fact proclaimed that she hated him and indeed all males, but he took these cries as signs of shyness, and thus peeped at her and continued to stalk her."

"He is honorless, and owes this girl a thousand apologies."

"Now, it just so happened that an arranged marriage had her bound to marry a boy who turned into a girl with a splash of cold water. Since the boy was cursed, she abused him verbally and physically. This boy had recieved the curse in China thanks to his father's idiocy. However, he had also recieved ten years of insane martial arts training that would kill a thousand lesser men, and could defeat skilled masters five times his age. However, the brother would not allow it, stating that he had some claim over her, citing 'true love'. He attacked, without any reason besides his own ego."

"Then he is a danger to all those around him, and must be smote down!"

"Continuing with my tale, the man was defeated soundly, however, would not admit defeat, claiming that the martial artist had made a pact with demons, and was thus unworthy of claiming victory. The fool attacked him again, and they both fell into a pool of water. The now-female martial artist dragged the delusional warrior out of the pool, however, all he recieved for his trouble was a grope and a proclamation of love. As you can imagine, this didn't sit too well with the cursed boy, and he thus beat up the man. The fool took these as 'love taps', and started chasing after her. When she proclaimed her lack of love, he decided she had been enslaved by the 'demon' who had beaten him."

"He must become a wandering monk for his sins, then!"

"Every day, for several months, he attacked and molested the girl. He used many underhanded tactics, and struck at the opponent's weak spot without mercy. Still, the cursed marial artist perservered. His antagonist decided that 'to defeat magic, one must use magic', and resorted to trickery, potions, poisons, and many other underhanded tactics. The fact that he survived through force of will was taken once again as 'proof' of his 'evil'."

"There is nothing that could wipe these disgraces from his life!"

"One final question. What would it take as proof, in your opinion, to show that the two were one, and that he had no honor whatsoever?"

"Easy. He would have to be tied up, and shown the change several times. Then the boy would have to be told something by the honorless cur, and be told back by the other form."

"Very well."

"Now then, Kuno. There's something I didn't tell you. Before, in front of witnesses, you answered my question. The man you passed judgement on was yourself."

By this time, Ranma had arrived. He had heard what the last half of Sotaki's challenge, and smirked when Sotaki threw a few ropes at him. Sneaking up behind Kuno, he tied him to a lamp post. Struggling in vain, Kuno swore loudly. "WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS?"

"You defeated me in a challenge of words. Your judgements were correct, and matched mine. Thus, the duel was over. Ranma, please come over here."

Ranma ambled over. "Yeah?"

"Is it true you change from a boy to a girl with the application of cold water?"

"Yes." Ranma was elated. If this worked, he would be free of one of his problems. From then on, he would be able to breathe a little easier.

"Do you love Kuno?"

"NO. Kuno disgusts me. He is a pervert and-"

"Thank you, that's enough. Do you know any magic?"

"On my honor, and the honor of the Saotome clan, no. The only magic I have knowledge of is what Cologne and Shampoo try to use to bring me into the tribe, and what my rivals use to try to defeat me, and my Jusenkyou curse."

"On my honor, I trust him. Ranma has shown me countless times how honorable he was." Dumping some cold water over Ranma's head, Sotaki went on. "Now, what is your name?"

"Ranma Saotome?"

"Were you born a male or a female?"

"Male!"

"How is it you are female?"

"A curse from Jusenkyou. Cold water turns me into this form, hot water changes me back."

"Do you love Kuno?"

"I've answered this before. NO."

"Kuno, please whisper something into his ear."

Ranma bent down, ear first, ready to leap back.

Kuno frowned. Something was starting to trickle through to Kuno past the filter of his ego.

"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?  
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.  
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,  
Who is already sick and pale with grief,"

Twitching, Ranma pulled back.

Pouring hot water over Ranma's head, Sotaki spoke to Ranma. "What did he say?"

"Kuno quoted Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet, the famous balcony scene, where Romeo and Juliet share tender words. Would you like a quote?"

"Kuno? Do you accept that Ranma heard what you said?"

"LIES! SORCERY!"

"Ranma has struggled valiantly to get where he is, and every day you attack him without reason. He struggles vainly to uphold all his honor and what little honor the Saotome clan has left, and you attack him for it. You molest him and Akane, and you try to kill him on a daily basis! YOU ARE NO SAMURAI... YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF THE TITLE OF BURAKUMIN!"

"NO! LIES! THIS CANNOT BE TRUE!" Kuno was close to foaming at the mouth.

"Why? Because then you would have no honor? Face up to your shame, you BASTARD! You have contributed to the Hell that is Ranma's life. You claim to be a samurai, but one of the greatest virtues of a samurai is REASON. They are always open to reasonable discussion. If you would at least to pretend to have any honor, you would have listened to what Ranma and I said, and realized your errors. This has all happened in front of over a hundred witnesses. DO YOU ADMIT TO YOUR MISTAKES OR NOT?"

"I HAVE MADE NO MISTAKES!"

"Really? You accepted a challenge of wordplay, and didn't lose. You swore to stand by your answers by accepting the challenge. I have provided evidence that the scenario I set forth in the challenge is true. The actions of the one you judged are your own! Will you cling to your delusion, or will you finally try to atone? You are standing on the edge of humanity. One more denial, and I can guarantee you Hell itself will consume your soul when you die. NOW ANSWER!"

What Sotaki had said finally reached what little brain remained in Kuno's head.

"I... I... have no honor."

"No. You have some honor. By realizing your folly even through all the hardships you've survived and all the mistakes you've made, you have started on the path to redemption. Now what will you do?"

"I will leave. One thing puzzles me, though. Nabiki told me that her body and soul belonged to Saotome. Why?"

"It's true, isn't it? He does control the 'osage no onna'."

"Heh. It's true, then. I shall become a wandering monk to atone for my sins. Akane, Ranma. I know it's too much to ask, but, please don't hate me."

Hanging his head, Kuno wandered away.

Sotaki shrugged. "Hm. Poor guy forgot that he has school today.

Once again, a mass facefault pervaded the area he was in.

Ranma was amazed. "You didn't just defeat Kuno, you let him defeat himself! Not only that, you removed him from my life! THAT WAS AMAZING!"

"No, it was logic."

"WHO CARES? Could you teach me?"

"Hmmmm... Okay. I'll do it."

Later, after school...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, MY OWN WORDS HURT ME?"

"I mean, your own words cause you problems. I'm going to steal someone else's idea and say that if you truly wish to be trained by me you must first go as long as I want you to without talking."

"No talking?"

"No talking. Writing stuff down is just fine, but take your time."

"How long do I have to do this?"

"Until I say otherwise. You can tell the rest it's a pressure point, a curse, or a new training method."

Ranma nodded. Holding up a sign that looked suspiciously like Genma's, he wrote out his message. [What is the purpose of this?]

Sotaki smiled. "When you figure that out you may talk once more."

Ranma nodded.

"RANMA NO BAKA! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I WAS WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU! WHERE WERE YOU? WHO WERE YOU WITH?"

Holding up a sign, Ranma wrote. [I was just with-]

"WERE YOU CHEATING ON ME? YOU WERE CHEATING ON ME! YOU BASTARD! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Malleting him through the roof, Akane grinned. That'll teach the pervert to play with my heart! Common sense suggested that he might have simply found a friend, and that she was wrong, but was quickly put in its place via a few *Ranma's fault! Ranma's fault!*s.

-WHAM!-

Ranma landed right outside the Cat Cafe. Hearing the ringing of a bell, he leaped up and tried to run away. Suddenly, Ranma was struck by a flash of inspiration. Ducking, he rolled TOWARD the source of the sound.

Shampoo thus overshot her target and kept going instead of using Ranma's now-missing body as the brakes for her bike. The fact that there was a lamppost behind her target only ocurred after the impact.

*Wow. That worked.*

"Ooooh... pretty stars..."

Whistling, Ranma strolled away. His stomach reminded him that Akane had malleted him right before lunch, and he thus headed toward the Ucchan's.

"Hey! Ranchan! Can I get you anything?"

[Sure, Ucchan. Could I get a normal okonomiyaki?]

"Sure thing, Ranchan! Say, why are you using that sign?"

[Old ghoul got me again.] Keeping his face still, Ranma realized just how easy it was to lie with signs.

Hearing a loud slap, she looked up and saw an enormous stack of bills on the counter. "What's that for?"

[That's for all the times I've eaten here, Ucchan. There's enough in there to cover the yattai that Pops stole.]

"B...but then you're giving back the dowry."

[Yeah. That's the whole point.]

"Why?"

[Because, Ukyo, I don't want to be engaged to anyone right now. I understand that you lost honor, and this isn't your fault, but you really can't go around blaming me for it and expecting me to marry someone who I thought was a guy until a few months ago. When you crashed the wedding you really lost what little honor you were trying to regain. You've suffered in silence on your quest for vengeance, but your father ordered you to do it not out of common sense but to soothe his injured honor. If you really think about it, your father is like Genma. He's willing to sell his own daughter and then blame her when the buyer turns out to be an untrustworthy bastard. You should blame Genma and your father, not me.]

"B... but-"

[But what? You've wasted much of your life looking for me? I sympathize, I really do. You had to work hard to survive. I understand. You've heard the story of my training trip, right? Well, that's not half of it. The real root of the problem is Genma. If you want to skin him alive be my guest. But please, let me go. I'm not sure I'll ever love you. It hurts me to do this, but please, Ucchan. Let me go. Please.]

Ukyo broke down crying. Tackling Ranma, she sobbed into his shoulder. Hugging him, she cried for all the lost time. "I... I'm sorry, Ranma. I've made your life Hell in the name of love. Akane mallets you because you'd rather eat my cooking than get poisoned. You do your best to help us all, and I just treat you like an object. Please forgive me, Ranma."

[It's OK. It's not your fault.]

Still sobbing, Ukyo clutched Ranma tighter. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.

*Could Sotaki be right? They all treat me like an crap except for Ukyo and Kasumi.*

Walking through a quiet park, Ranma relaxed.

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!"

Big mistake.

Dodging Ryoga's bandannas, Ranma pulled out a sign. [NOT NOW, RYOGA.]

"SHUT UP AND DIE!" Swinging wildly, Ryoga tried to put Ranma's lights out for good.

"Ryoga? Is that you? RANMA! STOP PICKING ON RYOGA!"

*Jeez, how dense can she get? Maybe it's time Ryoga gets a dose of his own medicine.* Dodging carefully, Ranma backed up to the edge of a pond. Ducking, Ranma held up a sign. [Oh look, ten yen!] Ryoga's punch left him overextended, and Ranma straightening up caused him to fall into the pond face-first. There was no splash, and the pond was fairly shallow. Akane blinked. "Where did Ryoga go? And why is P-chan here?"

[Akane, that depends. If someone makes someone else promise something out of pity, and then uses this promise in dishonorable ways, is it OK to break that promise?]

"What do you mean?"

[I mean I promised Ryoga I wouldn't betray a secret of his, but he's been using that secret against me. In essense, he's hiding behind my honor.]

"What are you talking about, you jerk?"

[I can't say any more, except for this: Ryoga followed me to China. He even tracked me to a certain cursed training ground.]

"What's wrong with you, baka! What the hell-"

[Jeez. Do you realize just how silly you sound? Are you a broken record? How many training grounds that I've told you about exist in China?]

"One. Jusenkyou. But anyone who goes there gets a curse. When we went on a date he was splashed and didn't change into anything."

[Ryoga got his hands on some waterproof soap.]

"But that would mean that he changes into something."

[Yes. And I'll have you know that that something always attacks me. Of course you assume that I 'probably did something to deserve it', and thus mallet me.]

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

[Akane, why do you think I don't want P-chan sleeping in your bed? Why do you think I call Ryoga 'pork butt' and 'bacon breath'?]

"Because he eats lots of pork?"

[I give up. I really do. You're hopeless. You tell me why P-Chan is here. Why does P-Chan always seem to understand you? Why is it every time you tell P-Chan something Ryoga seems to know? Why is it I make PIG cracks at Ryoga every time he tries to kill me? Why P-Chan avoids hot water like Ryoga avoids cold? Why is it Ryoga just disappeared and P-Chan appeared in the same spot when hit with cold water? Why is it they have the same bandanna? Why is it P-Chan and Ryoga attack with the same squeal every time they seem me?]

"I dunno, maybe coincidence?"

[You know, Kuno's less delusional than you.]

"WHY YOU!" Letting her control slip, Akane took a swing at Ranma.

Dodging nimbly, Ranma sighed. [You know, until today I would have let you hit me. But no more. I will never let you hit me again.]

"What do you mean, LET?" she screeched. "You're hit because I'm so much faster than you are!"

[Just like you're such a better cook, just like you're so much more attractive, just like you're so much more trusting, just like you're such a better martial artist, and how mature you are for the circumstances you're in, and how you're such a better housekeeper, and how you're so less perverted(1), right? ]

"RRRAAAAHHHHHH! STAND STILL AND DIE!"

And suddenly, a lightbulb went off above Ranma's head. He stood stock-still and let the mallet bury him up to his shoulders into the ground. Pulling out a sign, he smiled as he wrote on it. [I'm dead now.]

"BAKA! Don't joke about that!"

[No, I'm serious. You have declared killing intent before striking me for the past two years. That's enough to put you away for ten years at least. Considering how many times you've done it, that's enough for life. Considering the circumstances that you've done it, such as me simply coming to the dojo after being malleted a mile by you and you assuming I've been cheating on you, that's enough to get you several lifetimes, or, should I provide more evidence, death. But I've chosen to go easy on you one last time. One more hit from you, just ONE more, and I'm declaring myself legally dead. I'm giving you ONE chance to avoud a fate worse than death. ]

"HA! Who cares if you're dead or not?"

[Three other girls, one of which is a psycho. A pair of fathers, both of which are morons. An old perv and an old ghoul, both of which have access to many many powerful artifacts. Ryoga and Mousse who want to be the ones who kill me. Kuno, who realized his dishonor and became a wandering monk. Saffron. Either he might want to thank me for knocking him out of 'arrogant jerk' mode or for the same reason as Ryoga and Mousse. Nabiki, for all the money I provide her. Okaasan, who's willing to behead her own son if he's not 'manly'. Hikaru, who's quite a martial artist, and Sotaki, who seems to teach Hikaru.]

"Grrrrr... THEY DON'T COUNT! Anyway, how would you leaving be a fate worse than death?"

[Then who would count? And if I die, my 'debts' are unpayed. Therefore, all debts that previously fall to me now fall on the Saotome clan head. If I tell Okaasan the training trip and what I have to put up with because of that bastard of a father, I'm sure she'll divorce him. Since she's not expecting a child, there won't be any more Saotomes except for Genma. Since the pact still stands, and your father is so hung up on the pact, he would still say the families must be joined. Since Mom would warn all women within a five-country radius of Oyaji, he wouldn't be able to sire any children. Since Nabiki provides the money needed to keep your house afloat, Soun wouldn't dare engage her. Since Kasumi keeps you all fed, and the house clean, and loves Tofu, there's no way he'd engage HER. Since a man cannot marry a man, he couldn't engage himself. Who do you think will have to marry Genma?

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"

[No, I wouldn't make you marry Genma, although that would start to aproach the torture you put me through, instead I'm going to let you think about the following: I killed a god. I killed a god who had enough power to vaporize a mountaintop. I was looking for a cure, but I wouldn't have killed for that. The curse took backseat to you. I killed a god, all for you. I could have let you fry for all you put me through. I could have done anything to you while you were at my mercy. But I didn't. If you can't trust me after that, then there can be no engagement.]

"I REFUSE TO LISTEN TO YOU, YOU CHEATING, CROSSDRESSING, PERVERTED, IDIOTIC BAKA!"

[Think about what you're saying for a minute. The fact that I'm a better martial artist than my father got me my curse. I don't like it, in fact I've actively hunted for a cure, and yet you continue to insult me with the 'pervert' part. I have done nothing of the sort with anyone my life, so you can't call me 'cheating'. I dress appropriately for both genders, so there's no 'crossdressing' involved. I'm rebutting all your points and have you cornered, so there's no 'idiotic' involved. The only baka here is me, for putting up with you for so long. But that'll be cured soon. You can't reign in your temper even when I DON'T insult you. ]

Akane's mallet hand twitched, but she remembered what Ranma had said, and restrained herself... barely.

Walking off into the sunset, Ranma flipped his pigtail over his shoulder.

"Fine, I release you from your promise. You can tell me the secret."

[I can't. He has to release me first. Maybe you should ask Nabiki, she's probably figured it out.]

"WHY YOU!"

[What did I say this time? Did I imply that the sister who supports the household financially with weekly brilliant scams is more aware than you? I'm terribly sorry.]

"You'd better be."

[So sorry to crack your perfect little world. I'll be going now.]

"Go-HEY! RANMA GET BACK HERE!"

After Akane had been calmed down (with the clever application of a few signs reading [Genma]), they had gone home. Ranma had had some leftovers Kasumi had miraculously saved, and Akane went to question Nabiki.

"Nabiki, today something strange happened."

"What's that sis? Some new demon flew into town? Happosai's acting up? A new dragon? A god? A challenger with a style more obscure than one focusing around flapjacks?"

"No. Ryoga fell in a pond and vanished, and P-chan appeared."

"Sis... that's gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say!"

"Why? Wierd stuff happens all the time."

"I'm not doubting the validity of the statement, just the context."

"Huh?"

"Figure it out yourself Sis."

"Nabiki!"

"I'm going to bed now. Night."

"Get back here and tell me what happened!"

But Nabiki was upstairs. Behind her, she heard a noise. [Hello, Nabiki.] She turned around and saw Ranma leaning against the wall, holding up a sign.

"What, Saotome?"

[You know, today I realized something. You're the second-biggest cause of my problems.]

"What do you mean, Saotome?"

[You'te the one who set Kuno on me in the first place. You're the one who directs Ukyo, Kodachi, Shampoo, Ryoga, Mousse, and, until recently, Kuno to me wherever I go. And worst of all, you're the one who invited all the unexpected 'guests' to the wedding, So I have you to blame for the loss of my cure.]

"What do you mean, 'until recently'?"

[Oh, you didn't see? Kuno wasn't in class today.]

"What's that got anything to do with it?"

[He was cured of his little problem, and aknowledged his dishonor and became a wandering monk to atone.]

"Oh, really?" Inside, Nabiki was starting to get nervous. Maybe it's something else, like intestinal flu... but Kuno has never been held back by broken legs, much less digestive problems. Maybe he just decided to skip school to plot and rave...

[Yeah. And since I want a cut of all the scams you've centered around me like bets, and all of all the stuff that shouldn't have existed, like the photos and the information, you're gonna need to find a real job, and maybe convince Soun to do the same.]

"What about dojo repair? That's your fault."

[Really? Name five times an attack has been my fault. In exchange, I'll name fifty attacks that aren't. It's all Genma. He's the one who's been making my life hell, and he's the one who's been setting all the fiances on me? And whose fault is it Ryoga, Mousse, and all the other challengers are maniacs that can't keep their hands to themselves inside?]

"Easy. Yours."

[You know just how much like Ryoga you sounded, right?]

"Saotome, stop the games or Akane sees the photos."

[Nabiki, do you know what would happen if she saw those photos?]

"She'd mallet you."

[And do you know how many times I've been malleted?]

"Many."

[Next mallet, I'm not coming back. She declares killing intent before her strikes, so I'm going to fulfil her wishes. Next strike and Ranma Saotome is dead. That means no betting pools, no photos, and no location-selling. But your father is still quite hung up on honor, and thus the pact would still stand. Mom would never agree to stay married to a man who essentially got their child killed, so no new Saotomes. Since he wouldn't dare refuse Kasumi anything he wouldn't marry HER off, and Akane would just beat him to a pulp. This leaves you to marry the one remaining Saotome: Genma. Still don't want to give me a cut?]

"This isn't happening. You're a dumb jock. You couldn't have out-maneuvered me."

[I didn't. You defeated yourself, Nabiki. Now, I'll be wanting that check.]

"Really? Why should I pay you?"

[Because a quick search of the highschool grounds and students would doubtless reveal many interesting papers and photos. A quick quiz of your assistants would reveal betting pools, and Kuno himself would testify against you. When everyone hears the Ice Queen could go away along with her hooks they'll help any way they can. Still want to piss me off?]

"I'll think about it."

The next day, Ranma followed Hikaru after school. [Yo, Hikaru!]

"Yes, Ranma?"

[Where's Sotaki? I think I figured out the whole point of this exercise.]

"I dunno, he's usually here by now." A few seconds later, the pair heard rapid footfalls. Looking around, they saw Sotaki running like crazy toward them. Skidding to a halt in a cloud of concrete dust, Sotaki nodded at the two.

"I'm here. Sorry about that, I slept in and my alarm clock wasn't loud enough. You're here, Ranma, so I'm guessing you've figured it out. why did I silence you?"

[It's to make me think before I act, right?]

"Darn straight. You can talk now. Now, from the happy look on your face I'm guessing that you've cured a couple of your problems, but you've still got some left."

"Yeah, it's driving me nuts. I just can't figure out how ta deal with the Old Ghoul and Shampoo."

"They're Chinese Amazons, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hm... does Shampoo have any other suitors?"

"One. Crazy, half-blind master of Hidden Weapons, name of Mousse."

"Wonderful. I think I'll pay them a visit then. In the mean time I'm going to start training you in control of your curse. You know how to meditate, right?"

"Duh. I've got control of my Ki."

"That'll make things both easier and harder. Now I want you to meditate and look not just at your Ki but at yourself. Hikaru will splash you with hot and cold water, and your job is to pay attention to what happens and why."

Hikary piped up. "Sotaki? There isn't any hot or cold water here."

"That's why I'm going to teach you a new spell today. It's called AQUA CREATE!" Holding his hand flat out and palm down above his head, he swung his hand downward in Ranma's direction. A bucketful of water shimmered into existance above his head, and then obeyed the laws of gravity.

Sputtering, Ranma blinked. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?"

"That was a demonstration. Now, Hikaru, I taught you how to buffer your spells, right?"

"That's when I almost finish casting one spell, and then cast a second one, making the two finishes close to each other?"

"Right. Now this time I want you to modify the end of the Freeze and Flare Arrows to match the Aqua Create spell, and buffer the two together. This will produce cold and hot water. Ranma, start meditating."

Looking inward, Ranma saw the glowing sphere of his Ki. Looking around, Ranma noticed that it flowed through his body slightly differently than the flows of his male form.

Hikaru put his hand above his head, and thrust it forward. Calling out the name of the spell, he formed a long spike of water and cast it forward. "STEAM CANNON!" The spear fragmented and became a ball of steam. Impacting with the meditating Ranma, it dispersed into a few ribbons of warmth. In the steam, Ranma's form shifted. He cracked open one of his eyes. "I think I've got something... cold water this time."

Hikaru once again lifted his hand. Thrusting it forth, he shouted the next spell's name. "SEA SPRAY CRASH!" Launching another spear of water, Hikaru watched it fragment into a ball that looked like the spray of the sea. Hitting Ranma, it once again dispersed into long snaking ribbons that settled onto the ground. Ranma emerged from the spray with red hair once again.

"One more time."

"STEAM CANNON!" Blasting forth another ball of steam, Hikaru noticed this time that fog formed from the chilled ground, and Ranma grinned. "I'm getting somewhere. Keep at it."

*****

Hikaru collapsed into his bed, exhausted. *I didn't know I had that much mana in me!* Hikaru had just spent the last hour casting spell after spell. He just wanted to curl up and fall asleep. Ranma had managed to find the trigger to the curse on the last blast, but it was only one-way so far; from guy to girl. Since Ranma was looking for the other direction Hikaru expected more spells tomorrow. Flexing his psi a few times, Hikaru made a few balls, hovered them around, reabsorbed the energy, and fell dead asleep.

*****

Ranma was ecstatic. He had finally found a modicum of control over his curse. It hurt like the devil to change forms but it was worth it... it showed that it was possible to find the reverse process too. A little more work and he'd be able to control his curse!

"BOY!" Genma had snuck up behind Ranma and tossed him into the air. Leaping up after him, Genma began a vicious mid-air combo. Or tried to, anyway. Mimicking Hikaru's motion and combining cold ki from the pond with hot ki from himself, he created a burst of cold water. Launching himeself down at an angle, Ranma landed quietly leaving in Genma's path a ball of cold fog. This was enough to trigger his transformation. In accordance with the laws of physics, Genma sped up due to the change in mass (He's fatter than a panda, and momentum is conserved. Since he lost weight, his velocity had to increase). This launched him over the house. Frozen from shock, the stupid panda was embedded into the ground. Ranma headed inside, eagerly anticipating dinner.

*****

Sotaki checked up on the situation in Juuban, and noted with surprise that the demon had struck early and the Senshi were already moving to engage the enemy. Putting on his skates, he headed demonward.

Sotaki arrived just in time to see Sailor Jupiter take a hit from the demon. This one was small, wiry, and incredibly fast. It looked like a very small man, except its skin was discolored and it had fangs and claws. The Senshi barely kept out of its way, and none of their attacks seemed to hit it. Realizing that this attack was more serious than usual, Sotaki pullet a couple of enormous handguns out of his backpack and took careful aim. The first shots dug up huge concrete divots from under the demon, and the second volley of fire nearly decapitated the beast. Leaping up, Sotaki put away the hand cannons and pulled out a bundle of short TNT sticks. Snapping his fingers by the spliced fuses and snapping the string binding the sticks, Sotaki threw the pack right into the demon's path. Halfway down, a small charge in the middle of the bundle, scattering the powerful explosives. They exploded right when the beast was between them, throwing it up into Sotaki's path. Pulling out his handguns, he unloaded a pair of 2-inch-diameter clips right into the thing's head and heart.

Landing, he holstered his weapons and scratched the back of his head. "Erm... sorry I'm late!" He promptly recieved a smack to the back of his head. Venus shook here hand, trying to rub the soreness out of her knuckles. "What are you made of?"

"What did I do wrong?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing? This is a job for people with experience, not complete newbies to the field! You should stay home! Why are you getting in our way?"

"I'm killing demons. I have more experience than you. I don't have a home. Seeing as you couldn't hit that thing if your lives depended on it I wasn't getting in your way, I was saving your behinds. Any more questions?"

"HOW DARE YOU!" The effect of the slap was only slightly ruined by the lack of mark on Sotaki's face and Venus's whimper.

"Are you through yet? If you don't want my assistance just say so but I think that your group did elect to keep my services. You had your vote."

"I CHALLENGE YOU! I will fight you, one on one. If you can defeat me, I will accept you're better. Otherwise, you leave and never return!"

"I'm going to give you a minute for your ears to catch up to your mouth. If you still want to fight me you can go right ahead. If you attack earlier you forfeit. No killing blows, no crippling blows, no outside interference on anyone's side. Aside from that, no holds barred."

"FINE!" Tapping her foot, Venus waiter impatiently. A portion of her mind tried to remind her that he had just blown a demon to bits, but that was quickly squashed by her pride. A minute passed quickly, and the moment it ended Venus fired off a Crescent Beam Shower at the ponytailed youth's location. Sotaki, however, used the resulting explosion to launch himself upward and away from his opponent.

"I needed to try out my new spell anyway..." Straightening his arms out, Sotaki drew them back and swung them around to his chest, launching a large ball of mist toward the ground in front of Venus. "Helium Cannon!" The ball slowly pulled up as it streaked towards the pissed-off warrior of love and justice, and passed right above Venus's head. She immediately started shivering and swearing. "You JERK! That was cold!"

"That was the point. I'm trying non-lethal spells here." Sotaki frowned inwardly. *Darn, it rises faster than I expected... guess I'll have try a different tack here.* Starting a modified Aqua Create spell, he stopped right before the end. Lifting his hand, he brought it down forcefully, and yelled out his new attack. "TAZER BOMB!" A ball of gel dropped right in front of Venus, and was hit by lightning from the sky. The resulting blast showered Venus in electrified goo, nearly knocking her out. "AQUA CREATE!" The goo was promptly washed into the sewer by a deluge of water. A side effect of this was that Venus was shocked into wakefulness. "Well? Do you yield?"

"NO! That was a lucky shot!"

"Um... Venus? Maybe you should stop pissing him off?" Sailor Moon was hesitant about approaching her friend in this mood.

"SHUT UP! I'll beat him if it's the last thing I do!"

Sotaki sighed. "If that's how you want it... TAZER BOMB!" This time the sphere was slightly closer to Venus, and did knock her out. "Sailor Moon? Would you say I won?"

"Um... yes."

"Thank you."

*****

(1) How can the girl see signs of Ranma chating or trying to cheat on her with every girl in the world in any comment or action without being a total hentai?


	10. Chapter 9

standard disclaimer: I own none of the characters here except Sotaki. This is a tribute to Ranma, Sailor Moon, Slayers, Jet Set Radio, or anything else except some guy named Josh who I own once a week at Dynasty Warriors 4. This is merely a way for me to express myself and relieve stress. Please don't sue, I don't have much.

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

*Thoughts*

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES)

*****

Chapter 9: Stirrings

*****

"SOTAKI! I CHALLENGE YOU!" shouted an extremely curious Ranma, after several hours of verbal sparring with his teacher. Yes, over the days Ranma had become more and more intrigued at Sotaki's abilities, and moreso at his now-trademark bow-outs of confrontations and contests, which he had come to know as Sotaki ran verbal rings around several of the local toughs for 'demonstrations' for Ranma. Even though Sotaki was a total unknown, Ranma still felt a strong-enough curiosity to bring the fight to the ponytailed youth. After all, he had defeated a kami. What could be stronger?

"I'll pass, thanks." Sotaki continued lounging under the tree he was using as a sunshade, and watching Hikaru run through a few basic magic exercises.

"WHAT! How can ya 'pass' on a challenge? Yer honor as a martial artist demands ya accept!" Ranma was by now infuriated.

"Yeah, but I never said I was a martial artist now was I?"

Ranma blinked. "What have ya been training us in, then?"

"Hikaru? Magic, the powers of the mind, and a new way to move. You? How to use your brain, although honestly speaking you probably ALREADY used it, just at the wrong times and for the right reasons."

"AHA!" Ranma was elated. He had Sotaki right where he wanted him. "I call what ya've been teaching Hikaru a martial art!"

"Yeah? Well I call that house a horse. Doesn't get the house to stampede me. Just because you take on all comers doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to. Now let a man sleep."

"HOLD UP!" Ranma was by this point infuriated. Sotaki had dodged every one of Ranma's attempts to find out more about his power, refusing to spar, demonstrate any moves Hikaru wasn't ready for, or even move much faster than your average Joe Q. Salaryman unless faced with danger. "I at least wanna know WHY you refuse."

"Simple." Said Sotaki. "I specialize in abilities that have a rather sudden escalation of deadliness-per-effort-applied. I have several non-lethal techniques that I could use to take out maybe Kuno. Then I have a lot of heavy stuff that can, e.g., make anything human-shaped explode in a shower of blood. My central style also emphasizes guns, which, needless to say, are not great for anything short of mortal combat. I know you would be immune to the weak stuff, and no matter how good you get you are still human, which would kill you if I used the strong stuff. Add that to the fact that without a lot of preparation my body is little better than an average human, and I've got a really low pain tolerance, at least one of us would die if we ever sparred. I know my hand-to-hand skills are pathetic."

This pretty much snapped Ranma's worldview. Again. "NANIIIII? HOW THE HELL CAN YA TEACH ANYTHING IF YOU'RE NOT A MARTIAL ARTIST?"

Sotaki smirked. "I've tought YOU a thing or two, haven't I?" Ranma deflated somewhat at that. "And I've brought Hikaru up to the point that his various skills can lay a black-belt out flat, if only because most blackbelts would faint at the sight of a simple spell." Ranma sunk lower. "And last but not least, what about the millions of actual TEACHERS, in places like school, who have no martial arts ability whatsoever?" Ranma was a puddle by this time, severely regretting his outburst. "All that as it is, I think you can see why your challenge can go and screw itself."

"All right, fine. But what can ya ACTUALLY do?"

Sotaki glanced up at Ranma. "That's what you want to know? You'd challenge me to a fight to find out what I can do?"

Ranma shrugged. "It's worked before."

Sotaki sighed. "As I said before, a large part of my techniques are lethal. Furthermore, most are improvised, and very few actually STAY with me, in any shape, method or form. Couple that with the fact that I use a variety of forces, not the least of which is divine energy, and you get someone probably out of the scope of your everyday experiences, whom generalizing said experiences on won't yield much of what you want."

Ranma stared at Sotaki. "Why do ya have a large collection of such powerful techniques?"

"Simple. Actually, not that simple. But the general idea is this: I'm a meddler. Actually, among the Mages' Guild, I'm known as a Gatecrasher, mostly due to my habits of tampering with 'gate' spells. That's what landed me in this place in the first place... that and a certain wish. As a result of my most recent 'experiment', I got a full dossier of Nerima and the surrounding areas, plus a few places in China, crammed into my brain."

Ranma was getting impatient by this time. "Yeah, so why all the deadly moves?"

"I was getting to that. Anywho, in order to meddle with gates, you need a lot of creativity, and magical ability. Middling-high, as far as our standards go. Seeing as gates are portals to other... places and times, the results can be interesting. The most likely thing to happen to a Gatecrasher is simply to be sucked through the gate, to whatever, wherever, whenever and whyever it points. This tends to land said Crasher in plenty of sticky situations. Gates are also notoriously finicky creatures, and tend to open only in certain situations. This is, in large part, why I'm called a GateCRASHER - I muck about with gates trying to get them to OPEN when they want nothing more than to be SHUT.

"However, Gatecrashing is tricky work, and hard to perform in the middle of, say, Seikigahara. Thus, it is imperative to either A: get the heck away from the battle and wait until it subsides to get at the gate, or B: join in and try to stop it. At the very least, a Gatecrasher should be prepared to defend his own life against attackers.

"Finally, Gatecrashing requires a laboratory. On the end of the gate one is on. This means that it is imperative to secure various expensive and rare components. Such adventures tend to yield new powers, weapons, abilities, and ideas, while at the same time REQUIRING said powers, et al, for survival and success.

"Thus, an experienced Gatecrasher tends to acquire a large collection of powers, abilities and weapons. Usually, a lot of these are lethal to the average human. While I am only a novice Gatecrasher, I have been on several long quests in various situations - some futuristic, some neolithic, some magical, some technological. I have prevailed in all of them. In all of them I had to wrest some critical component for my crashing from a guardian. I'm told this is standard operation procedure. However, the problem is said guardian frequently attacks all sorts of people, places, things... you get the drift. Guardians also tend to fixate on the component in question, and thus try their damndest to ensure I end up dead after I retrieve it.

"As a result, I need to be prepared to kill just about anything, from a demon taking human form to a massive dragon, to get back home. I try to negotiate, but what can you do?"

By this time Hikaru had stopped his exercises and sat, listening to Sotaki's explanation. Ranma summed up the entire tale in a few sentences: "So yer an interdimensional drifter with a curious mindset, a load of weapons and abilities ta kill, incapacitate or maim, many of them crazy-soundin', some of them near-useless. Yer also a mage, a psychic, and... not a martial artist but a brawler to boot. Ya came here because of some wish coinciding with yer latest tampering with the very fabric of the universe, and now ya have to fulfil this wish and then get back."

Sotaki nodded happily. "Yup, that's about it."

"And all of this is why you won't fight me."

"Exactly."

"And despite having no ability in martial arts to speak of, you still are going to train me and Hikaru."

"Yeah."

Ranma blinked. "Are ya struck by the absurdity of the situation?"

Sotaki nodded. "Yes, but I try to ignore it. See, I've had time to get used to being myself. Anyway, from what I got crammed between my ears your life isn't much quieter."

Ranma looked offended at this. "Hey! There's a couple of BIG differences between us!"

Sotaki looked amused. "And those would be?"

Ranma smirked, having finally cought Sotaki. "One: I stick to one dimension, and two continents. Two: I don't use weapons. Three: all my lethal techniques are sealed, and I didn't invent them."

Sotaki blinked. "So you have a more limited range of experience, barring the time-travel thing... you have to train harder to be able to defend yourself against a maniacal/non-human opponent in a fight to the death... and you've sworn an oath not to use the only way you know of to compensate for this... and you don't want to think up new and interesting ways to get around that oath, like new techniques."

Here, Hikaru interrupted. "He's got you there, Ranma."

Fortunately, this verbal sparring match was interrupted by two or three stomach growls, some of them even from the same stomach, and the group happily headed off to the nearest restaraunt to spend the local Yakuza's hard-extorted money, and put another all-you-can-eat buffet out of business.

On their way to the local eatery, however, they encountered one of Ranma's many remaining problems.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

Ranma shuddered. "Not her. Anyone but her. Please Kami-sama not her."

Sotaki followed suit. "Kodachi Kuno, I presume. I'm still a little sleepy... why exactly is she following you like a lost, psychotic puppy?"

Ranma shrugged. "Damned if I know. I think it was something about me saving her from a nasty fall."

At this point, Kodachi leapt down off the rooftop she was standing on, and onto Ranma. "Hellooooo, Ranma-sama," she purred, quietly wafting her latest concoction - a paralysis perfume - over her intended victim. Ranma, starting to feel drowsy, struggled to get away. Kodachi looked hurt. "Where are you going, Ranma-sama? That's not the way to my mansion..."

Sotaki blinked twice, muttered something unintelligible and suddenly snapped wide awake. VERY wide awake. Hikaru was the only one who noticed. As the traditional drama known as Saotome-Flees-From-Kuno, Variation 3, continued, Sotaki and Hikaru began conversing on the drama. "Um... Sotaki? Was that a pep spell?"

"Yes, Hikaru, it was. Never mind the details; it was the only thing I could think of to get my thoughts straight."

"All right. I presume this is to come up with a plan to save Ranma's behind from Kodachi?" Hikaru was curious to see what Sotaki would do.

"Yes. Yes it is. And the first step of my plan is this: Get food." Saying so, Sotaki walked into their original destination, the eatery, and ordered four large orders ramen to go and four and a half pairs of chopsticks. The man at the counter, knowing Nerima, didn't ask about the spare chopstick. Walking outside and helping Hikaru recover from his facefault, Sotaki handed Hikaru a pair of chopsticks and a large ramen, sat down crosslegged on a nearby bench, and began chomping down on his food. "Eat up."

Hikaru, nursing a bruised forehead and a bowl of steaming noodles, sat down and pondered the situation. "How exactly does this help Ranma?"

"In several ways. One: I'm hungry, and I think better when I'm not. Two: it takes time to eat, and right now it looks like Kodachi's completely fixated on Ranma, and has 'interrupts locked out', so to speak - no getting through to her. Third, I'm betting Ranma had worked up a drool for food, and would still like the noodles at the time he was expecting them, and if that's not available, then as soon as possible."

Hikaru nodded at these practicalities. "Those are good points. However, you said you had a plan."

Sotaki smirked. "I always have a plan. Usually, it's to wait until the right moment and then wing it. I think better when I'm not hungry, as I said."

Again, Hikaru recovered from a facefault and climbed back on the bench. His ramen was, miraculously, unspilled. "What kind of a plan is that!"

"One that will survive contact with the enemy, and thus a rare plan indeed."

Meanwhile, the performance art that is Ranma And Kodachi came to a close with Ranma running away at high speeds past the bench the witty duo of Hikaru and Sotaki were sitting at. Sotaki lobbed a bowl of noodles and a pair of chopsticks at the pigtailed blur, and was rewarder with a mid-air bow and an "Arigatou!". The ponytailed, ribbon-wielding psychopath following close behind recieved the half-pair of chopsticks, stuck between her running feet and thus tripping her up. She skidded to a halt a few feet ahead of the bench.

Sotaki finished his ramen, put down his bowl, walked over to Kodachi and picked her up. "You all right, miss?"

"Get your hands off me, peasant! Of course I'm all right! I am KODACHI KUNO, THE BLACK ROSE! OHOHOHOHO!" Kodachi demonstrated her patented maniacal laugh.

"Yes, and you also skidded several feet. On concrete. With a bad landing. With all due respect, you should look like raw hamburger. It's a testament to your complexion you're unharmed."

Hikaru realized what Sotaki was doing, and began praying for his soul. Flattering Kodachi Kuno could get you ANYWHERE, including straight to Hell.

"Really?" Kodachi was intrigued. "Well, I - WAIT! I only let Ranma-sama talk to me like that. How dare you, peasant?"

"How dare I what, compliment you? One would think that acknowledging the fact that you have unusual, if not unique skin, as is evidenced by the fact that it is intact after that kind of slide, wouldn't deserve insults and belittlement."

Hikaru diversified his prayers into 3 major religions. A barbed compliment was the worst.

"YOU DARE TALK BACK TO THE BLACK ROSE?"

"Well, yeah. What, do you have reason to question your own senses?"

"HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT I AM HALLUCINATING!"

Sotaki calmly walked towards Kodachi, stepping over her flailing, razor-sharp ribbon as if it wasn't there. He stepped on the snake-like tool about a meter's worth of cloth from her hand. "I merely inquired as to your health. If you have to double-check what you heard, a doctor's appointment may be in order. Purely for your own health and well-being, of course. I am somewhat skilled in diseases of perception and cognition... tell me, does anyone in your family suffer the same symptoms?"

This new tack, and the sudden jolt in her arm on her upswing, put Kodachi off balance. "Well, my dear brother can be a raving lunatic sometimes... as can my father."

Sotaki nodded sagely, sat down on another bench and invited Kodachi to sit down as well. Handing her the ramen and his last pair of chopsticks, Sotaki began conversing with her. "Do you have any regular exposure to hallucigenic chemicals?"

Kodachi, by this time completely disoriented, tried the noodles and discovered them to be good. Hikaru was watching with bugged-out eyes. He had not, however, ceased his prayers for more divine intervention. "Well... I maintain a garden with rare plants, and I prepare my own herbal remedies from them. Naturally, I test them on myself, or the family ninja. Would that count?"

"Seeing as your ninja is in the bushes over there observing a stampede of neon green giraffes, I'd say the answer to that is yes." A very confused Sasuke stumbled out of the indicated bushes and started weaving towards the Kuno family mansion. Sotaki quietly planted a tracer on him. "That looked like a tincture of Hawaiian Woodrose and a few other potent herbs, with an alkaloid mixed in to delay the onset. One of your creations?"

Kodachi nodded proudly. "Yes. One of my best. You certainly know your chemicals."

"Oh, I've picked up a little bit in my travels. Now, I think I've isolated the root of your problem, and I've got a solution. I want you to follow these orders exactly, understand?"

Kodachi nodded again, by this time totally out of the loop.

"I want you to cease experimenting, for about a week, with the results of your garden. If you wish to keep any particularly rare specimens, use dessicants to cure the samples and store them in a cool, dry, dark place. Also, while tending your garden, wear a full-body suit, not the leotard you have on now. I want you to keep out of contact with your plants."

"Very well. Though it pains me to be so seperated from my dear plants, I shall do as you perscribe."

"Second: get out of the house more, into fresh air. And I don't mean your garden; prolonged exposure to many rare flowers can cause this sort of thing. Now run along!"

As Kodachi bounded away, a thoroughly shocked Hikaru sidled up to Sotaki. "Since when are you a doctor?"

"I'm not, but she doesn't need to know that."

Hikaru, having experienced two Sotaki-based facefaults within a half-hour, did not want a third. Thus, he restrained himself from falling down. Barely.

"All right, be that as it may, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"Have you ever wondered WHY the Kuno family acts as it does?"

Hikaru shook his head. "No. I don't question them, I just obey their orders."

"That's great. Would you like to know?"

"Sure."

"I'm extrapolating here, but I think it's a good guess. After Kuno-san died, Principle Kuno, Tatewaki and Kodachi all went out of their gourds. This was probably helped along by Kodachi's hallucigenic drugs. I ran a light mind-read on her and it was all I could do not to go into a coma right there; the kid's got more chemicals in her bloodstream than most of the junkies in Tokyo combined. Some of it is REALLY rare stuff, too; almost impossible to cultivate. I'm betting it's no better with Principle Kuno. You saw me snap Tatewaki out of it. The reason I encouraged him to become a wandering monk is because in all honesty it would keep him out of the house - and thus away from Kodachi. The only reason I could have done that in the first place is that I suppressed his appetite after issuing Ranma my challenge, which kept him away from most of the poisons Kodachi was working on that day. He ate at Ucchan's the next day. Without that much-needed influx of normal food, I doubt ANYTHING would have gotten through to him."

"All right. One more thing: How do you know so much about chemicals and plants?"

"Well, I tried paralyzing and distracting guardians several times for a while. It rarely worked - they've got a unique physiology. However, they ARE living creatures, and thus vulnerable to SOME toxins... most of which can be found in extremely rare plants. Seeing as I'm a reasonably skilled Gatecrasher, I talked to a wizard friend of mine and he VERY graciously made me my own pocket dimension. I hooked up a gate to my backpack, but I digress. In order to ensure that I have the supplies and plants I need onhand, I carted some soil into my pocket dimension, and now I've got a portable garden. This might just be an opportunity for me to expand my collection!"

"So you're a gardener as well?"

"Toxicologist, actually, by neccessity. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many kinds of scorpion there are..." Here Sotaki shuddered, as if reminiscing some bad memories.

"All right, I get the drift - you're a poison expert like Ranma's a martial artist - you were on the recieving end often enough and learned how to dish it out to survive."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."

"Any OTHER talents I should know about?"

"Yeah. I'm an incredible marksman."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"All right. What is it you shoot with?"

"Anti-aircraft flak cannons."

Even Hikaru's aversion to facefaults couldn't save him.

"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU CARR-oh. The bag."

"That's right. It's a very nice bag."

"No one is debating that, but isn't it a little strange to carry A FIELD ARTILLERY PIECE IN YOUR RUCKSACK?"

"Well, where else would I carry it?"

Hikaru sighed. "Well, how about up your sleeves or something?"

Sotaki shook his head. "Nah. I carry shotguns, handguns and ammo up there."

"You're insane, you know that?"

"And you're my little loonie-in-training. Now let's head home, it's getting dark."

And so the two wandered off to their respective sleeping spots. Hikaru got a thorough dressing-down from his parents for staying out late, and Sotaki just fell asleep.

*****

Yes, another update. No, I'm not dead. Yes, expect more on this and Chaotic Master soon. No, no schedules. Yes, it's for the summer. No, I don't know when I'll stop. Yes, there's a pattern to my answers. No, I can't think of anything else.

chainchomp5


	11. Chapter 10

*standard disclaimer* I own none of the characters here except Sotaki. This is a tribute to Ranma, Sailor Moon, Slayers, Jet Set Radio, or anything else except some guy named Josh who I own once a week at Dynasty Warriors 4. This is merely a way for me to express myself and relieve stress. Please don't sue, I don't have much.

*****

A.N:

"Japanese"

'English'

[Signs]

>Chinese<

(Thoughts)

-SOUND EFFECTS-

(AUTHOR'S NOTES NUMBER)

*****

Chapter 10: Undertow

*****

Another wonderful, sunny morning in Nerima. Another day of extortion, violence, lust, brutality and delusion. Worst of all for Sotaki, however, was the sunny morning part.

-Damn and blast! I swear I can't keep my eyes shut when it's this bright. Let's see, what time is it anyway?-

A thoroughly groggy ponytailed Gatecrasher woke up, checked his alarm-clock, decreed 11 AM to be far too early to be awake, and started thinking. -Nothing I can do right now to get rid of this blasted sun... and I'm too lazy to rig some kind of eye cover up... AHA!) Thinking thus, Sotaki reached into his rucksack with much more arm than the size of the bag warranted. Groping around a minute, he got bored and stuck the upper half of his body in. He emerged half a minute later with a crystal vial filled with pitch-dark fluid. Reading the label, Sotaki smiled grimly. *Potion of Darkness. Effects last one hour or until magic is dispelled. One dose. Do not use on external surfaces. Caution: Flammable. Just the thing I'm looking for - I've got too many of these things anyway.* Quaffing the draught of darkness, Sotaki's grin became quite happy as his eyes glazed over. *Ahhh.*

Meanwhile, at the Tendo Dojo, Ranma was having similar thoughts about certain pandas, without the parts about potions.

At the same time, at the Gosunkugi residence, Hikaru was sleeping in through a simpler method - closing the curtains. This was of course a luxury neither Sotaki nor Ranma had, Ranma because he had no time for closing curtains, and Sotaki because he had no curtains to speak of.

*****

A while later (sometime after lunch), Sotaki and Hikaru woke up, both feeling understandably hungry. As both climbed out of their respective places of repose and set about freshening up - one at a nearby stream, the other using the facilities at his house, they contemplated the virtues of various foods, and came to the same conclusion. *Man, I want some ramen.*

Seeing as they had already eaten at the one non-martial-arts-powered ramen joint in the district, they both set their sights on the Cat Cafe, and set off.

Hikaru's trip was uneventful, for the most part. Sotaki's was a bit more active. His sleep-addled mind didn't detect the flux of dark energy that portended the spawning of a youma. Said youma, however, immediately started stalking the nearest, strongest psychic signature - Sotaki's. The Sailor Senshi, feeling a bit less cocky than before, started stalking the nearest, strongest dark-energy signature - the youma's. Sotaki had unknowingly almost caught up with Hikaru, when the youma began closing in for the kill. Alarms went off in Sotaki's head, as he detected some VERY not-friendly thoughts being directed at him. This, coupled with the sudden jump in temperature and the simultaneous screaming of the very fabric of existance against the youma's very presence cued him off as to what was stalking him.

The youma lunged, certain that it would soon sever its target's neck from behind and feast on the body and soul of the one it would decapitate. Sotaki, however, stepped sharply to the left and dodged the red, dog-like demon, releasing a bright flash of light. This resulted in the dazed demon banging head-first into a lamp-post, which didn't sit too well with either fixture or extraplanar evil. Sotaki was now dressed in clothing a bit more appropriate for mortal combat his previously-worn black jeans with a few metal studs (and protection enchantments) attached and white t-shirt were now covered by a dramatically-flaring cloak.

The Sailor Scouts were impressed. Well, some of them. However, Sotaki wasn't done. "Oy! Fido! I JUST WOKE UP! What's the big deal attackin' me when I'm not even awake yet! Come back at a decent time. Like, say, 6 in the evening."

Hikaru, recognizing the voice of his sensei, turned around and started watching. From a safe distance, of course.

The dog, not very creatively, lunged again. Sotaki stepped to the side, and sighed. "Ah man, I've only got one viable weapon on me... and I hate firing this thing in populated areas. Well, you asked for it." Saying so, he lobbed a sachel charge in the path of the demon's next charge and, holding the detonator in one hand, he reached the other into his backpack. The youma lunged yet again.

The resulting explosion, enhanced by Sotaki's magic, shattered a few nearby windows.

The resulting explosion propelled the creature upward, mostly unharmed. "Fire-based, as I thought." Pulling his arm out of his backpack, Sotaki withdrew...

"NO WAY!" the Sailor Scouts were now ALL impressed. They all knew an anti-aircraft gun when they saw it. The fact that Sotaki was holding it with one arm made it all the more impressive.

The next explosion made the first one sound like a kid's capgun.

A few moments later, there was a brief rain of youma bits. Then, quiet.

Sotaki stowed the flack cannon where he had retrieved it from, and started ambling in the direction of the Cat Cafe. Hikaru joined him.

"You weren't kidding about the flack."

"What, you think I was? Since when have you known me to kid?"

"Point." Hikaru was impressed, yet again. "When do I learn how to do that?"

"Just after you learn to shoot a regular gun."

"And when does that happen?"

"Sometime after lunch, once you make your first psychic construct."

Hikaru boggled. "Don't you need a license for that sort of thing?"

"Which, the gun, the ack-ack, or the construct?"

"Gun and ack-ack." By this time, Hikaru had already gotten a hunch as to Sotaki's answer.

"The gun? Probably, but I never bother with them. The anti-air is a different story, I think. As for why: is there any police activity in Nerima?"

Hikaru thought back to the last time he had seen a policeman on duty in Nerima. He found that it was a couple of years back - some time before Ranma came along. "A long time ago. I think that's because Ranma pretty much took over everything of that kind."

"Probably. I've also noticed that martial artists are pretty much above the law. Assault in broad daylight, use of hazardous techniques that would normally be considered to be or at least blamed on explosives, indecent exposure, attempted rape, the works. Am I right here?" Hikaru nodded. "All right. Anyway, what are the police going to book me on? Possession of unregistered weapon?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"One: Searching me won't come up with anything. My guns are stored elsewhere, and gated in at-will, which means that even a stripsearch will come up with nothing. Two: What are they going to file my guns AS? They're all non-standard. My personal handguns exceed the maximum caliber by a factor of more than four. A testimonial that I fired them against some kind of magical entity, or some other junk, is just ABSURD. Any scientist will tell you that the recoil from my guns should tear my hands off, and thus the judge will find me an overconfident idiot, give me maybe a week, and let me keep the guns. Finally, the ack-ack. How likely is it that the police, in ANY district, are going to try and subdue a man for firing an anti-aircraft gun? Seriously. They don't get payed enough for that."

Hikaru's stomach rumbled as he nodded again. "Point. So what brings you here?"

"Same as you - food."

As they entered the Cat Cafe, Cologne nearly fell off her staff. *That aura... it's insane! The man who has it is a capable mage, and a better martial artist than Xian Pu! Haven't seen one of these for a hundred years.*

Sotaki, having taken a few light precautions when he sensed a powerful mind emitting shady thoughts at him, enabled a psychic shield and a small defensive spell as Shampoo flounced out to greet them.

"Aiyah! Welcome to Cat Cafe! Today special is too too good ramen. Follow me to table!"

With these words, the purple-haired Amazon bounced away again. Sotaki felt the hair on the back of his neck rise slightly as someone very quietly slipped into his personal space - a circle of a radius of five feet. Focusing almost all of his powers into his legs and feet, Sotaki performed a dodge with his feet firmly planted on the ground. The speed astounded Cologne, as it had dodged her Amaguriken-supplemented staff, which had been seeking one of the various nasty pressure points found on the back.

"Hello, sonny," cackled Cologne. "That looks to be fairly uncomfortable. Why don't you straighten out?

Shifting some psi and mana to his arms, and twisting around on foot, still bent nearly double, Sotaki ran a small scan on Cologne and prepared himself. "A mummy! A rather observant one at that... and a slow one. What's up?"

Cologne's staff blurred as she strove to strike the ponytailed mage. Her hands continued on their path... however, her staff did not. Sotaki snapped the wooden head-walloper in half and beaned Cologne in the head with the bottom half.

*What IS he? He grabbed my staff like it was nothing!* Cologne was shocked.

Sotaki's eyes narrowed. He rubbed the arm he had cought the staff with, and smiled. "Sorry, none of that now. I have business to attend to, and my pupil and I are rather hungry, so we'd appreciate it if you didn't try to stab either one of us again. Now if you'll excuse us, our tables call. Ah yes - I'll have the beef ramen, hold the drugs, potions and powders, thank you, and I'm pretty sure my apprentice will have the same."

Cologne picked herself up off the floor. *This is truly frightening. His smile... like a demon! I must avoid getting this one enraged. The way he moved screamed of power.* "Very well. Your order will be right out."

Hikaru was shocked. "I knew you were good, but THAT good? You blocked her staff like it was nothing!"

Sotaki smirked. "I'll tell you at the table." They strolled over to the booth Shampoo was at, and sat down. Stowing the top half of Cologne's staff up his sleeve, Sotaki stretched out as much the surroundings would allow, and yawned. Hikaru noticed something off about his arms.

Looking more closely, he noticed a small splinter of white sticking out of Sotaki's forearm, almost parallel to the skin. "Is that... bone?"

Sotaki nodded grimly. "Yup. Just because I make it look easy doesn't mean it is. I've got a large supply of healing draughts, so this is a minor injury. But it took a LOT out of me to block that staff. Furthermore, I had three advantages. One: I knew where Cologne was going to strike. I am somewhat skilled in mind-reading, a normally VERY difficult art. However, the old woman was EXTREMELY focused, and radiated her thoughts throughout her entire aura. Second: Her attack pattern locked. This means that although it's fast, it's predictable. She couldn't change it - you saw how her hands kept blurring even after I snagged the staff. However, all this would have been useless without the third advantage. She wasn't really putting EVERYTHING into her strike. She attacked as she would a martial artist of about half her ability. If she had truly attacked me, I would be quite dead. All of these combined to allow me to snag the staff, and stop her sequence - essentially, I blocked one strike. Now if you'll excuse me, the pain is getting to me." As he spoke these words, Sotaki reached into his backpack with his non-damaged arm and pulled out a crystalline vial of red fluid. Uncorking it with his teeth, he chugged the contents and sighed relaxedly. Before Hikaru's eyes, the damage to Sotaki's arm repaired itself - splinters receded into flesh, swelling subsided and damaged flesh became whole again.

"How many of those do you have?"

"About ten or so - that was a potion of cure serious wounds, extremely potent and really rare. I have a variety of other potions, some for healing. They're quite simple to make, too. I'll teach you - after gunplay lessons."

At this moment, a rather subdued Cologne brought out their ramen, and silence enveloped the table. >1<

-----

A while later, Hikaru and Sotaki were in another abandoned lot. Hikaru was focusing on gathering power, and Sotaki was focused on his funnel cake. Hikaru was sweating with the exertion, and Sotaki was sitting cross-legged and relaxing. Both were achieving the same thing, altough Sotaki's came with a bit more ease - they were shaping a construct. Essentially, they were programming their own psychic energies into a stable form that would serve a certain function. Namely, they were working on a 'laser sight'. Sotaki's had already taken form and was projecting a 'bright-red' line of light to their enhanced eyes. Hikaru's was taking a bit more effort; his energy refused to simply sit still and function. Hikaru was getting frustrated with his own difficulties, and the ease at which Sotaki made his energy obey.

"All right, now that you've had enough experience screwing up, it's time for you to actually MAKE the construct." proclaimed Sotaki, around mouthfulls of pastry treat.

"Wait - you mean all that was for nothing?"

"No, it's just that I left one piece out. Right now you're trying to control everything at once - you're striving to constantly renew and hold the construct."

"Yeah? So? Without that it would disappear."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"What's mine doing, then?"

Hikaru blinked, and moved on. "So you release the energy?"

"Not really - more like put it out to pasture. You sort of will it to stick together, and keep doing this and that, and maybe for long-term constructs to draw its own energy, and let it go, and it works."

Hikaru had long ago learned that there was no such thing as a free lunch. "What are the downsides to this method? Are there any others?"

Sotaki nodded as he finished off his desert. "Sure! The problem is it takes some time to refamiliarize yourself with the construct if, e.g., you want to modify it. That can be trouble if you need it changed or disabled FAST. The alternate method is what you were doing, with a lot more skill and control. The downside is, of course, that you need to focus on the construct, which pretty much immobilizes you. In a battle situation, it's rather doubtful that any construct will save your ass directly - psychic powers influence people MUCH more easily than weapons or projectiles, and that's almost always with direct force of will, so constructs rarely manage it - so it's a no-go for combat."

"Is there another method? There should be a way to get the best of both worlds."

Sotaki smiled. "Of course there is. In fact, there are several. Some are dangerous, most are ineffective, and all require a little more energy than you've got right now being held in constant reserve. So instead of that, I'm going to give you a pop quiz." Here, Sotaki tossed Hikaru a dark-red potion. "This is a potion of infra-vision, often associated with shadow. It lets the quaffer see into the infra-red spectrum for a limited time. Very useful in dark places where you don't want to give away your position. It gets kind of messed up by bright light, but that's another story. Anyway, what I want you to do is to find a way to use this potion in the technique I'm about to show you."

So saying, Sotaki started juggling potions behind his back.

Hikaru waited a while, in case something interesting happened. Then he waited a little more, just in case it was a gradual sort of thing. Then he waited another minute or so, in case Sotaki had just zoned our or something. Then he got impatient.

"Sotaki?"

"Yeah?"

"So what's this technique?"

"Oh, you didn't catch it? Here, I'll do it again."

Hikaru shook his head. "Nono, that's OK. I think you can just explain it. Really."

Sotaki shrugged. "Well, OK, but the best way to learn is by doing, you know."

Hikaru blinked. "Yeah, but I had no idea of what you were actually DOING."

Sotaki blinked. "Good point. All right. Now, you probably know the basic concept behind Remote Viewing: see things you shouldn't be able to see. Quite handy, really, because it's not fooled by illusions, and you can see through walls, around corners, etc. Each person has a different way of RV. Almost all of them depend on some kind of ordered information - usually a set of coordinates. Traditionally, RV was used for spying purposes. You give the spy a latitude and longitude, and a comfortable room, and some time later the spy gives you a description of whatever's at that place, be it nuclear silo, research facility, or farm."

Hikaru nodded. "Sounds handy. So how does juggling come into it?"

"Juggling requires fine muscle control, practice - and a reasonable knowledge of where the stuff you're juggling is at. Do I look like I have eyes on the back of my head?"

Hikaru admitted Sotaki did not.

"I'm using RV to see them. Quite handy, really. I'm not nearly a good enough martial artist to, say, develop a danger sense, but this keeps me a little safer nonetheless. The downsides are, of course, it only applies to physical objects that can easily be seen. A blade hidden in an apple, for instance, would snuff me right out if I couldn't get it out and get a healing potion in in time. Any kind of poison would do me in quite quickly. Killing intent, which often triggers sixth senses, is quite distinguishable to me, so I'm safe from that, but for a different reason."

"So if it's that useless, why not develop a danger sense?"

"I'll show you why, once a rampaging martial artist attacks us."

"SAOTOME! FOR TAKING MY BELOVED SHAMPOO AND CASTING HER AWAY, DIE!" A thoroughly enraged (if somewhat off in his aim - Ranma was currently at the Tendo compound) Mousse swooped down from the rooftop he was on and pointed at Sotaki.

Hikaru twitched. "Spooky timing."

Sotaki shook his head. "I've gotten into the Nerima groove. Now, observe. Two knives." Sotaki pulled a pair of switchblades out of nowhere. "Note how his posture immediately tenses. He senses pointy stuff not under his control - he feels this to be dangerous, and rightly so. Now, watch as I close in." Sotaki held both blades at the ready in front of him, and slowly crept towards Mousse.

"Saotome, you coward! Resorting to switchblades? I didn't think you were street trash, but apparently there are no depths to which you will not sink. For my beloved Shampoo, DIE!" How Mousse's eyes could see the blades and identify them so precisely, while not being able to tell the difference between Ranma and Sotaki, was a mystery Sotaki decided to investigate later.

By this time, Sotaki was right in front of Mousse, and had thwapped him upside the head.

"Hah! You must be on drugs as well! That was a PATHETIC attack!"

Sotaki held both knives an equal distance from Mousse. He made a few light, easily dodged jabs, which Mousse evaded. Suddenly, both sides blurred almost too fast for Hikaru to see. The brief combat ended with Sotaki crouching on Mousse's lower back at an impossible angle, holding one blade up to Mousse's jugular vein, and the other to his wrist. Sotaki's voice suddenly sounded much less carefree, and much more... deadly. "Ah, I see you know your vulnerable points. Now, it just so happens I am not Ranma Saotome. I am NOT a street tough - which means you have a chance to get out of this alive. However, I am also not a martial artist. This in turn means you have a chance to get out of this dead. If you understand this, and are now going to get out of my sight, and never attack me without provocation on my part, you can live. Otherwise, I'm going to have to kill you. Now, if you're going to leave now, give me a sign."

Mousse, very carefully, nodded.

Sotaki's arms and knives vanished from their positions, and he lazily flipped off of Mousse's back with a kick. The myopic martial wonder stumbled and shivered, and promptly headed back to the Cat Cafe, very much glad to be in possession of his bodily fluids and parts.

Sotaki sheathed his knives where he got them, and sighed.

Hikaru blinked. "Two questions. One, would you have actually killed Mousse? Two, what exactly happened?"

Sotaki shook his head. "I'm not sure about the answer to the first question. It all depents on the circumstances. If he plotted murder against me personally, and would not abate until I killed him, then yes. For a hot-blooded attack like that? No, not the first couple of times.

"As for your second question: What did you see?"

Hikaru thought back to what had transpired. He knew a little about martial arts after watching Ranma duke it out with various challengers for almost a year now. Thus, he correctly identified Mousse's actions. "He looked like he blocked a stab that wasn't there."

"That's right."

"Why did he do that, though?"

"His danger sense tipped him off."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It takes a lot of effort to fine-tune a danger sense. Almost impossible to get it perfected, too - it's THEORETICALLY possible, but it would require either a special technique, or years and years and years of nothing but all the dangers in the universe coming at you from various angles in controlled conditions. Mousse clearly had neither."

"All right. But how does this relate to what happened?"

"I'm getting there. Now, which would you say is more dangerous - a knife moving at, say, 2 miles an hour, or a knife moving , say, a hundred miles an hour?"

"The hundred-mile-an-hour knife."

"Normally, that's the case. But in this case, it wasn't so. This is because when the knife moved, it moved AWAY from Mousse. This meant that his danger sense said "fast-moving knife and slug-speed moving knife." Guess which he countered first? After all, it doesn't make much sense to move a knife fast and NOT at the target, right?"

Hikaru nodded, seeing what had happened.

"Yeah. Well, I used a twist to slip around Mousse's guard and get behind him. 2 miles an hour can be REALLY fast if you're preoccupied, especially if it's not 2 miles an hour the entire time. I snaked my arm around him, and that's the end of that."

"And all this is an explanation of why a danger sense is good but not great."

"Yeah."

"Wow. You've settled right into Nerima."

"I guess I have. Hard to believe I'm a roaming mage, huh? Or, knowing this place, not so hard."

"All right. Now I believe you said something about guns?" Hikaru had always wanted some power in self-defense, and a gun had always seemed the way to go. He was far too law-abiding (and wimpy) to go to the Yakuza and get a handgun, however, so it had always remained an unfulfilled dream.

"Sure. Just finish up the quiz."

"Quiz? Oh, right. The potion." Looking at the potion, Hikaru frowned. He didn't see anything that leaped out at him. Drawing a bit of shadow, he promptly went bug-eyed. The insides of the potion were a swirling mass of light and dark - he could see snatches of everyday life from all over Nerima inside the vial. Here, a couple rested in the shade of a tree. There, a little old lady ladled the sidewalk under a telephone pole. In another scene, a mugger hid in an alley from his enraged 'victim' - another travelling martial artist.

Tearing his eyes away, Hikaru looked at Sotaki. "What was that?"

"My best guess? You just remote viewed. Ancient principle of magic - like affects like. You use shadow energy to 'see' things you couldn't before. You looked into essentially a vial of condensed shadow. Naturally, you'd see OUT of shadow as well."

Hikaru shook his head in wonderment. "That's amazing. It's just wacky enough to make sense. The things I could do with this potion-"

"What, you want it? It's much more useful quaffed, I've always thought, but alternative uses HAVE tended to be surprisingly potent... yeah, you can have that. It'll be your first trinket."

Sotaki blinked. "Trinket?"

"Yeah. That's what mages and psychics call enchanted everyday items - not just enchanted like a flying carpet, but things that are used as lenses - to focus abilities. I'd say the potion qualifies, if you use it to scry."

Hikaru laughed in amazement. "How many potions do you HAVE?"

Sotaki shrugged. "Actually, most of them are not mine. I've got a gate to the Mages' Guild Vault - each mage is allowed a certain quota of items borrowed or used, barring any situations that require the mage to draw more - within certain parameters. Say, I could use five more of the healing potions to save a couple of lives. If then I get shot in the gut, I may be entitled to another potion to save myself. I'd have to work it off later, and make replacements, with interest, but it's preferable to a slow and painful death. However, if I used the potions to heal scratches, that would be deemed a waste of resources. I'd probably have my gate suspended, and I'd have to work back everything and then some. If it was a repeated offense - say, I'd done similar things regularly per trip out of guild in the past, then I might not even GET the potion.

"Anyway, now that you've done that, attach the construct you've made to this gun." Sotaki handed Hikaru a perfectly ordinary .38 revolver, standard issue for the police department - with a bulky silencer somehow attached.

"Where did you get this?"

"A framed cop went to jail - some jailkeepers are corrput. The keepers, naturally, keep the prisoners' effects. This includes guns. The Yakuza got a hold of this gun, and then lost hold of it to a travelling magician, along with most of the cash in their safes."

"Ah." Hikaru nodded sagely. Leave it to Sotaki to rob robbers. "How exactly do I attach the construct?"

"Think about it. Add a little extra power between the sight and the top of the gun. Think strong, attached and permanent."

"All right..." muttered Hikaru uncertainly. He drew some more shadow, tried what Hikaru suggested, and was rather surprised to find that it worked.

"Now what?"

"Now," said Sotaki, "you have a great advantage over the vast majority of gun users. You can see exactly where your bullets go - and where they are GOING to go."

Hikaru looked at Sotaki. "Isn't that normally how it's supposed to work?"

Sotaki shook his head. "Not with handgus. The aim is tricky at best, and trying to figure out where your gun's supposed to be to hit a given target, and then moving the gun there, and holding it steady while firing, is EXTREMELY difficult to do. This is why most gun users simply commit their shots to muscle memory - the traditional firing stance, for instance, can hit anything within ten degrees of where the shooter is looking, but not much else. My style of gunplay is much more free-form. After you get used to shooting the gun with the guide, you'll take it off and get used to it without. In the mean time, try and shoot some of those bottles over there."

Sotaki pointed to a half-finished wall, where some lazy drunks had left many empty beer bottles.

Hikaru nodded, and raised the gun carefully. Channeling his power through the potion in his pocket, he 'looked' at the area he was aiming for, and 'saw' the red line of his sights sweep past the bottle, then twitch back and steady. Sotaki noticed it too. "Good aim - you've got talent. Now squeeze the trigger."

Hikaru yanked the trigger back, and a quiet shot echoed lightly across the parking lot. The bottles remained intact.

Sotaki whapped Hikaru on the back of the head. "I said 'SQUEEZE', not 'PULL'. Try it again. Carefully." Hikaru nodded, and tried again.

This time a bottle shattered.

Sotaki's face lit up, as did Hikaru's. "Great shot!"

Hikaru nodded. "It was... easy."

"Well, with the guide, and the gun, yeah. Guns are simple like that. The problem is that the difficulty of any actual technique rises exponentially."

Hikaru stared at Sotaki. "Techniques?"

Sotaki grinned. "Sure. A fast-moving piece of metal is, in fact, incredibly useful in many spells. Also, there are several physical properties of bullets which make them more powerful than people know."

"I don't suppose I get to learn any of these?"

"Not 'til you need them, no."

"Do I get to SEE them?"

"No, but I can name and explain a few. The Celestial Hammer uses the same principle as armor-piercing bullets - you fire one bullet like an artillery round, then you fire another such that it drives the first one into the target at the moment of impact. The Fire-Cyclone Shot - by heating the bullet up to extreme temperatures, the resulting shockwave from the bullet carries with it a concentrated inferno. The Spell-Shot, which imbues bullets with spells, to be released on impact with the environment, or, for the harsher attack, the target. The Shieldshot, which increases the density of the air around the bullet by a factor of one hundred, making it quite useful as a non-lethal round."

Hikaru nodded. "I see."

Sotaki pulled a strange-looking piece of wadded cloth out of his pocket and handed it to Hikaru. "Here."

Hikaru took the silky cloth and looked at it. "What is this, a mystical hanky?"

Sotaki shook his head. "Portable hole. Sort of like my storage-gate spell. Keep the gun in there. There's a dweomer on it that prevents anybody but the people I specify from seeing anything other than a silk hankerchief… and a few weapons in it that you might want to learn how to use."

"That's great. Just one question... how do I use it?"

Sotaki took the compressed object by an edge, and whipped his arm towards a wall. The cloth expanded and darkened as it flew, becoming a veritable hole in existance, about one foot in diameter. When it impacted the wall, it stuck to it.

Hikaru walked over and stuck his head inside. "It's kind of dark."

Sotaki shrugged. "Well, what do you expect? There's no light sources."

"That makes sense."

"Oh yeah - a warning. The insides of the hole, when it's not open, slow down time to a crawl. Several notable mages have used this as a poor man's time machine... it works, but only in one direction. A minute becomes a year quite easily... so be careful as to what you put inside. I once stuck a rampaging lion in this one, and forgot about it. Let me tell you, I was lucky I was facing feral antelopes when I had to open it again. Otherwise I shudder to think what might have happened."

Hikaru stared closely at the hole. "How does it work?"

"It's like this: There are animals that are capable of phasing into and out of reality at will. Blink dogs, phase spiders, and kittens who don't know any better spring to mind."

"Kittens?"

"Sure. How do you think they get around like that?"

"You have a point. Anyway, go on."

"These animals all have some sort of byproduct. Blink dogs and kittens, for instance, shed some REALLY annoying hair - it tickles but can't be removed because it's not there. Phase spiders weave really annoying webs - almost impossible to tear, because only the parts on you are in your reality. The hole is a circular piece of woven cloth from those materials, with a gate spell being cast into the weave."

"That's pretty clever."

"Yeah. It's a real effort-saver, too. You can carry about ten cubic feet of whatever in this model. Just a warning... I know you probably won't encounter any, but NEVER PUT BAGS OF HOLDING IN THIS HOLE. Or the hole in bags of holding. Both tend to have some... strange effects."

"Like?"

"Well, fiddling about with the space-time continuum is dangerous. The items I mentioned have the few stable constructs we've discovered woven into them. However, these constructs are only stable because of the properties of the space they bend - one of these properties being the reasonable 'smoothness' of the space. In other words, a lack of other constructs."

Hikaru blinked. "Oh. So putting this inside a 'bag of holding' would be like fiddling with the restrainings on a really tense cosmic rubber band?"

"That's about right, yeah."

"So now what?"

"I dunno. I was planning to take a nap."

"What about further lessons?"

"That's up to you. You've learned the basics of all of my abilities. Now you just have to find ways to combine them. I said you would find your own way of life. Well, I'm not about to tell you anything that could potentially set you down a particular path. That's YOUR path, not mine. I can show you a few spells, but I think it's best if you work most of your repetoire out on your own. Seriously - then each spell is your own creation.

Hikaru blinked. "So... that's it?"

Sotaki nodded. "Yeah. You've gained your abilities. You can now cast at least two simple spells, fight hand-to-hand, run, skate, shoot, and make constructs. You are now a graduate of my training."

"Is there a ceremony or something? It's barely been a week."

Sotaki shook his head. "I kitted you out, didn't I? It's all about free will, man. You've got your abilities, now use them. Or don't. It's your choice."

Hikaru's head was awhirl. He now had control over his life. Complete control. He had learned the basics of three incredibly powerful disciplines in a short time, and was now free.

As thoughts to this effect ran through Hikaru's head, Sotaki plopped down on a block of concrete, fell over and began to snore.

Hikaru's inner monologue was interrupted by the sound of Sotaki arduously sawing logs. He briefly considered waking up Sotaki, then remembered what the demon that had attacked him had recieved for its troubles. Exercising the discretion he had survived on before his recently-completed training, Hikaru decided to head home.

Approximately an hour later, Sotaki awoke, discovered no one around, and decided to patronize the all-you-can-eat buffet he had found yesterday. The ramen had been great. Couldn't hold a torch to the Cat Cafe's efforts, but the associated hazards of eating there far outweighed anything else. It just so happened that this little joint was in Juuban. The Sailor Scouts had been stalking Sotaki for a while now, if only to keep an eye on him before he began their training, and now that he was on their turf certain hotheads decided to make their presence felt. Sotaki had just entered a slum district - pretty much abandoned - when he heard...

"GUNS ARE FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE AND THE ARMY, TO DEFEND LOYAL CITIZENS OF OUR NATION! FOR FIRING A WEAPON IN A PUBLIC SPACE, AND SPREADING YOUR DEPRAVITY TO OTHERS, I, SAILOR VENUS, SHALL PUNISH YOU!"

Sotaki sighed, and his stomach rumbled in agreement.

"Oh yeah. I promised you training, didn't I?"

Venus quickly sent a Crescent Beam towards Sotaki. "Well, looks like you've been doing some training already. That attack was much faster than it should have been. Or are you just so pissed you forgot its name?"

A World Shaking vaporised the pavement Sotaki had been standing on, along with a considerable chunk behind and in front of his previous position. "That's not nice. You know, for defenders of the public good you sure destroy a lot of property."

A Dead Scream ripped through Sotaki's new position, and a Deep Submerge blasted the street light he was sitting on out from under him. Grabbing the street-light, Sotaki snapped off the head and punched the top a few times to flatten it out, and balled up the other end, making a freakish cross between a zanbato and a bo staff - sharp enough at the end to cut but with a much longer handle and a counterweight.

Suddenly, a demon emerged from the shadows, moving rather quickly for Sotaki's throat. This one appeared to be a copy of the one he had demolished that morning, barring its change in color scheme - blue rather than red. It was soon followed by several more. The attacking Senshi smirked, confident that they would soon see Sotaki fall before the demon horde. Only Sailor Moon's scream of terror, and faceplant, warned them that the pack had spared one demon for them. The battle would take up much of their time.

Meanwhile, Sotaki deployed a few psi-speakers in the surrounding area, cued them to begin, and began to fight to the resulting music.

Some sad, disjointed piano music enveloped the area. A man who sounded like he had adenoids the size of golf balls began singing.

_Well you play that tarantella all the hounds'll start to roar _

_The boys all go to hell and then the Cubans hit the floor _

Sotaki threw up the zanbato, pulled out his hand cannons, and blasted two hounds into four bits, while they were lunging at him.

_They drive along the pipeline, they tango 'til they're sore _

_They take apart their nightmares and they leave them by the door _

Sotaki stowed his guns, cought his melee weapon, and bounded in time to the plinking of the piano for an abandoned apartment door, tearing the demon slinking there into bits, which fell to the ground with a sick patter.

_Let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair _

_Deal out Jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs _

A demon had apparently cought Sotaki unawares, as he tumbled out of one of the third story windows, with the demon clawing at his back. As they fell, Sotaki positioned the demon between him and the floor, and oriented himself feet-down.

_I'll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past _

_And send me off to bed for evermore _

Stepping off the now-split corpse of the demon, Sotaki patted the back of his shirt, which was miraculously intact. He swatted a demon flying at him with the sharp bit of his makeshift weapon. The resulting two half-demons skidded along the pavement, leaving behind youma dust.

_Make sure they play my theme song, I guess daisies will have to do _

_Just get me to New Orleans and paint shadows on the pews. _

Tuxedo Kamen chose to make his appearance here. He had been filled in by the less friendly Sailor Senshi as to what had been happening, and thus chose to fire indiscriminately at the melee going down on the street. After that, he started irritating the youma that was harrassing the Senshi with tossed flowers.

_Turn the spit on that pig and kick the drum and let me down _

_Put my clarinet beneath your bed 'til I get back in town _

Sotaki danced out of the way of claws and thorns alike, and suddenly lanced out with his weapon, neatly skewering a slavering set of chops all the way to the tail. Flicking his wrist, he neatly made it spill its insides, which became dust even as they seperated from it. The rest of the youma followed suit. Sotaki suddenly lashed around with a roundhouse kick to his side, severing another demon's head from its shoulders. He suddenly slipped on nothing, handily ducking under another brutal lunge. Pulling out his twin pistols again, he blasted the hairy thing above him to bits, and rolled back towards the abandoned apartment.

_Let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair _

_Deal out Jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs _

_I'll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past _

_So send me off to bed for evermore. _

Sotaki kicked the pavement, launching himself back towards the window. He flew out of the fourth-floor window shortly afterwards, this time with his right foot holding off the snarling demon that had lunged at him. Un-crouching in midair, Sotaki blasted the demon back towards the window, which promptly laccerated the fiend.

Looking around, he saw that he had disposed of approximately half the pack. Another youma pounced on him from behind, aiming for his neck.

_Just make sure she's all in calico and the color of a doll _

_Wave the flag on Cadillac day, and a skillet on the wall. _

A quick Mars Flame Sniper saved Sotaki's arse, crisping the youma to a lurid pattern of charcoal and embers before it dissipated. Sotaki spun around and, with a swat, smeared another pouncing beast against the wall of the apartment.

_Cut me a switch or hold your breath 'til the sun goes down _

_Write my name on the hood, send me off to another town _

_And just let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair _

_Deal out Jacks or Better on a blanket by the stairs _

_Tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past _

_Will you send me off to bed for evermore. _

Sotaki began mopping up, sending foes into various locations in various states of well-being, or lack thereof. One demon smashed into the hood of an abandoned car - another one was shredded by the hole it made in another window. The rest left no mark of their passing, except maybe a dent on Sotaki's now-blurring sword.

_Fall out of the window with confetti in my hair _

_Deal out Jacks or Better on a blanket by the stairs _

_I'll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past _

_Send me off to bed for evermore, send me off to bed for evermore _

Jumping up onto the roof, apparently unconcerned by the fact that he should be weighed down by the middle-sized sapling of almost solid metal he was wielding, Sotaki landed with his feet on both sides of the hilt, driving the sword straight through the midsection of the last demon, which happened to be in the middle of another dodge, avoiding a number of attacks from the Senshi. Yanking the now-battered blade out of its concrete sheath, Sotaki stowed it away. Turning to Sailor Mars, he bowed deeply. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Hino-san. I would have been quite dead without your assistance."

Kicking with one foot, Sotaki rolled through the air, out of the way of the Time Key. Landing in the same position, merely relocated a few feet, Sotaki straightened up. "That wasn't very nice. I was thanking your comrade for saving my life, and here you go assaulting me. Do that again and I may bring Zan back out."

Sailor Venus smirked. "Name weapons awfully fast, don't you?"

Sotaki nodded. "Well, yeah. It served me well - why shouldn't it have a place of honor in my collection? It's only fitting."

Venus held up her hand, summoning down blasts of energy. "Name THIS! CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER!" Sotaki dodged, only to have his arm snared by a quickly-summoned Love-Me Chain.

"Very good. You've chained your attacks, no pun intended. You've already gotten better just watching me fight and analyzing your weaknesses."

"Shut up! We don't need your help!"

Sotaki blinked. "Wasn't the rule one monster per day?"

Venus nodded. "Of course. Everyone follows that rule."

Sotaki yanked the chain that ensnared his arm, seemingly ignoring the jolt of energy that wrapped around his hand. The resulting force sent Venus skidding into and against a roof access. Sotaki then thrust the hand he had grabbed the chain with and whipped Venus's own weapon towards her. He released the energy that had shocked him along the chain back at his assailant. The result was crispy Minako Aino. The blonde vigilante stumbled out of her vertical crater and stumbled back to the group, glaring at her attacker the entire time.

"What do you call this, then? You can clearly count to more than one - and if you would care to remember how many demons there were you'd see that there were SEVERAL of them. Things are already changing."

"S-SHUT UP! They don't count because only one attacked us."

"Oh? What happened to 'defending the public'? Or are you only interested in your own hides?"

Uranus attempted a Space-sword Buster, only to be countered by the piece of metal Sotaki had wielded during his recent battle. Twisting his wrist, Sotaki smacked Uranus with the flat of the blade, and then reversed the motion and disarmed her. Snagging the glowing sword out of mid-air, he paused for a moment, then held his two weapons parallel and smashed them together.

The result was interesting. The glowing blade was still chipped, but quickly repaired itself. It shone with an inner illumination, and cast no shadows, apparently shining straight through things. The actual illumination was quite soft, and tapered off quickly, but the effect was unnerving. Especially as the sword reformed itself into a massive, full-fledged zanbato made of what looked like mercury.

Sotaki prodded the sword, which pulsed in response.

It also rippled.

Grabbing the base of the blade, Sotaki pulled a hilt out of his backpack and brought it into contact with his new weapon. The sword promptly absorbed it, forming a hilt of its own.

"Hm. An artifact-level weapon. How handy!"

Upon uttering these words, Sotaki grabbed the massive chunk of metal and stowed it in his backpack.

Uranus promptly picked him up by the neck and attempted to throttle him. "GIMME BACK MY SWORD!"

Sotaki was shaken about for a while, and, upon getting his bearings, flipped Uranus over the edge of the roof. Regaining his footing, he chucked a small cylinder of metal after her. -BONK-

"OW! DAMMIT, YOU LITTLE PUNK! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"

Sotaki walked over to the edge of the rooftop, and peered down. "It's your sword. What's it look like?"

Uranus chucked the cylinder at him. "DIE, YOU LITTLE LIAR!"

Sotaki neatly cought the thing, shrugged, and wandered away from the edge.

Sailor Moon walked up to him. "Um... excuse me..."

Sotaki glanced at her. "Yes?"

"I'm pretty sure that's not her sword."

"Uranus's sword was an ancient magical artifact. Normal magic doesn't last that long. It needs something to latch on to. This cylinder was it - it also functioned as a hilt. However, the magic was so old its binding force was past degraded. Quite frankly the thing would have gone off in a few more attacks. Although the actual magic is gone, and absorbed into my sword, this cylinder is still extemely powerful, if only for its magical storage capacity. Uranus threw it at me, denying any desire to have it. So I think it's mine now."

Saying so, Sotaki pulled out a marker and doodled the word " Battery" on the little knick-knack.

Most of the Sailor Scouts facefaulted. From street level there came a most horrendous cursing of Sotaki comparing him, his ancestors, his habits and his bodily parts to various animals, events and diseases.

Sotaki blinked, and nodded. "Impressive."

Walking over to the edge again, he dropped the fob-on-a-chain around his neck onto Uranus. He then proceded to return the verbal favor for approximately half an hour, in over one hundred varied languages. Uranus, for some reason, got the full effect.

After that, Sotaki lifted his hand, and the trinket flew up and into his palm. He then put it on again.

"As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, I now have a magical battery. Also, Mars has taken the first step along the path of my training for you - recognizing the value of teamwork. Her attack saved me, and for that I am grateful. Her tactics were excellent, and for that I am happy. Some of you, however, have attacked me repeatedly. I really don't like this. In case you haven't noticed by now, I'm considerably more powerful than you. I've taken out over ten demons, whereas you've managed one. Furthermore, your fighting style is fundamentally flawed and you can only bypass your built-in limiters with an incredibly powerful wave of emtion - the kind that overrides judgement, making it worse than useless in a real battle. The first thing you're going to do under me is to start training your powers outside of your transformation."

Pluto got wide-eyed. "How did you know we're transformed?"

Sotaki sat down on the edge of the roof. "Aside from the fact that you're emitting massive amounts of magical energy, and the fact that your outfits are incredibly powerful artifacts with a recall spell to a subspace built into their functions? And the fact that you look damn similar to girls attending a local highschool, or private school? Your ability to vanish without a trace. You'd get bored if you just hid - you have to have a normal life."

Mercury shook her head. "Although your analysis is correct, we can't access our powers outside Sailor form."

Sotaki nodded. "Exactly as I suspected. Hence, of course, the training. Your transformations multiply your physical abilities by a reasonably large factor. They also increase the amount of magic you can channel safely, and locks you in several pre-set patterns for this magic - hence, your attacks. Hopefully, you'll be able to reverse-engineer the suits to pick-and-choose your benefits. Maybe you'll want to be able to cast your own spells, or you may choose to build in some better ones."

Here, Pluto got angry. "You intend to teach these girls incredibly dangerous and potentially abusable knowledge in order to tamper with ancient artifacts from a noble kingdom that fell ages ago?"

Sotaki whapped her on the back of the head. "Yes. Your artifacts are in EXTREMELY poor repair and not at all suited to the current combat. They're a good example to work from, and quite handy otherwise. Plus, they're ALREADY artifacts. As to the moral implications: They've defended the planet thus far. You think they'll suddenly turn on you if they get some power you're not an expert on?"

Pluto promptly turned red, partly from rage and partly from embarrasment. She attempted to brain Sotaki with the Time Key, which he promptly caught and broke over his leg. "You know, I could pawn this, just for the embarassment it causes you."

Pluto screamed here. "YOU BROKE THE TIME KEY!"

Sotaki bopped her on the head with the bottom half. "Damn straight I did. It's pretty bad material, too. See? Stress faults, old ones by the look of it." And indeed, there were numerous stress fractures, with rust running along them, showing their age.

Here Pluto turned even redder, mostly from embarrassment. "Well, I've been meaning to get it repaired, but there's always this or that, and..." Sotaki shrugged.

"If I were a chrono-mage I'd just make you a new one. As it is, you'll have to do it yourself."

Pluto glanced around nervously. "Um... Well, you see, that is..."

Sotaki sighed. "Forgotten time magic?"

Pluto sighed and answered in a meek voice. "Never learned it in the first place."

Sotaki bopped her with the staff again. "Now that makes my training imperative, don't you think? It just so happens I can secure a book on basic time-magery, and I suspect you'll be able to extrapolate from there. But I will only teach you on one condition."

Pluto looked up hopefully, seemingly having forgotten that it was Sotaki who broke her staff in the first place. "What's that?"

"No unprovoked assaults on me."

Pluto nodded. "Deal."

Venus shrieked in indignation. "PLUTO! He just wrecked all hope for Crystal Tokyo! He completely humiliated you, and now you're becoming his STUDENT?"

Sotaki nodded. "Looks that way, huh?"

Venus attempted to brain Sotaki with a mallet. "THAT MAKES NO SENSE, IDIOT!"

Sotaki looked up as the mallet descended, and stepped out of the way. Stepping on the head of the hammer, he pulled a semi-automatic combat shotgun out from his sleeve and aimed it straight at Venus's face. Venus suddenly froze. Sotaki's voice turned deathly cold. "That was completely uncalled for. I've tolerated your assaults thus far, however, my patience is growing thin and none of my other methods of conflict resolution seem to be having the desired effect. I defeated you in honorable combat. Both of your so-called "leaders" have accepted my value and ability as a teacher. I have done nothing to harm you personally, nor as a group. You have no reason whatsoever to assault me, except for me TALKING in ways you don't approve of. This calls into question your ability to govern yourself, MUCH LESS millions. Now you either cease any and all hostilities, now and into the forseeable future, barring any openly hostile action against you personally, or the Senshi as a whole, which the majority of you do not accept as neccessary or as part of your training."

Venus was torn between the urge to scream and tear Sotaki's head off, and the urge to become very, very small. Far away. VERY far away from the unhappy-looking man and his unhappy-looking gun.

Unfortunately for Venus, the urge to scream and tear won out. She very quickly brought up the handle of the mallet, trying to throw Sotaki off its head so she could get a better shot. In her rage, she overshot and the handle flew out of her hand. Sotaki calmly walked up the handle as it rose, and ended up balanced on top of it.

Mercury's computer was screaming something about "violation of all known physical laws" and "magico-spatial flux".

Sotaki remained balanced on the handle of the mallet, which remained balanced on the head of the mallet, which remained balanced, as one would expect it, on the roof.

Venus realized she was now defenseless.

Pluto stepped in here. "Venus! That is ENOUGH. Sotaki has in fact done nothing to warrant this sort of behavior. You're behaving like an animal." *I hate having to defend this threat. Ah well, once I repair my staff I'll kill him.*

Sotaki pulled out another shotgun and poked the barrel into the back of Pluto's head. "I AM a psychic, you know."

Pluto eeped and quietly stepped out of the way. Sotaki's shotgun tracked her the entire time.

"Now. I am a reasonable man. Seeing as I seem to represent the International Guild of Magery, I think I am allowed to offer you a temporary alliance, to expire when the current threat is neutralized. Does that sound amenable?"

Sailor Moon nodded. "Yes, it does. As the leader of the Sailor Scouts I accept for all of us."

"WHAT? HOW CAN YOU ACCEPT FOR ALL OF US?" Venus was steaming mad now.

Sotaki shook his head. "Actually, Venus is right. You can't accept for your friends - they have to decide individually. If they don't, then I'll probably start using heavy weaponry against attackers in the future... if that persists I'll just declare a blood feud against the offending parties, and then they're screwed. As it is, however, this is my last resort at reason. I am explicitly stating my motives, reasons, abilities, etc. I'm laying myself bare, essentially. If you accept my services, you get a decent teacher and maybe a few new abilities. If you don't, then I continue killing youma and defending myself."

Moon, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury all agreed this was reasonable quite happily. Pluto and Neptune agreed grudgingly, but gave their consent nevertheless. Only a steaming Venus and Uranus, who had by this time climbed back on the roof, disagreed.

"We refuse to be bound by an agreement with a threat. ESPECIALLY one who attacks us." said Venus.

Sotaki sighed. "When have I attacked you? Have I ever used any serious force against you, even when you use attacks that can, should I fail to dodge them, render me quite dead?"

Uranus stepped in here. "You hit back! Only evil resists our attacks."

Sotaki turned to Mercury. "You look like a clever girl. Tell me, can you see any parallels between this situation and the witch hunts of colonial times in America?"

Mercury was confused, but her training and studiousness rallied to the sudden question and she brought fourth several similarities. "Yes. Self-validating arguments - circular ones. A 'shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later' mentality. A severe case of xenophobia. No way to prove your innocence and live, because if you stand still and get hit by our attacks you'll die and it'll be a case of 'another enemy defeated', and if you resist you're all the more heinous."

Sotaki turned back to Uranus. "This is what I've been trying to get across here for the past couple of days. You're beginning to sound like an idiot as well as act like one. When have you ever known a sane individual to NOT try and dodge massive blasts of energy headed their way? Well?"

"Um... when they're ambushed?" Uranus asked dimly.

Sotaki nodded. "Yup. So if you want me dead, you ambush me. Otherwise, don't bitch at me and call me evil for ensuring my own survival."

Uranus sighed. "I see your point. I still don't like you though."

Sotaki shrugged "I'm not asking you to like me. I'm telling you how to improve yourselves."

"All right. What do we do now?" Mars asked

Sotaki looked at her. "I already told you... you'll be working on drawing power from your respective powers detransformed, except for Pluto, who has her own curriculum."

Pluto looked at him warily.

Sotaki raised one hand over his head. "GATE!" A massive book labled The Basics Of Time Magic For Dummies impacted Pluto's green-tressed head.

Jupiter and Moon giggled. Pluto grumbled as she got up, flipped open the book to page one, and smiled. Sotaki tossed her the bits of her staff, which she promptly reversed the timeflow for, resulting in a brand-new Time Key.

The Senshi all blinked. Mars spoke up again. "I for one agree to Sotaki's terms, and am for his training." Jupiter, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto all voiced similar feelings. Uranus grumbled a while, and finally said similar. Only Venus held out.

"I refuse."

Sotaki sighed. "All right."

Moon looked at him, questioning. "Are you sure? She's a part of the Senshi... she's one of us. How can you just let her go?"

"Simple. It's fairly clear the Senshi as a group are getting my training. If she's deciding not to let me train her, that's her problem - it's clear she's not acting as part of the Senshi, or considering her role as part of the group. Despite the fact that she was justifying her actions with the defense of the Senshi, and thus the public, when it's clear that the only course of action for the preservation of the public and the Senshi is cooperating with someone she doesn't like, she promptly backs out. She's a hypoctite, plain and simple."

Venus flung a brick, an invective, and a "HOW DARE YOU?"

Sotaki stared at the brick, and narrowed his eyes. As it approached his face it seemed to slow down... then it reversed. Then it continued accelerating, back at its flinger. Venus very narrowly dodged her own weapon, which was now travelling at well over a hundred miles an hour, and still gaining speed. The brick rapidly left their field of sight, and was last seen crashing down into an ocean somewhere.

Sotaki turned his now-serious gaze on Venus. "I give up. You attack me again, I'm taking the kiddy gloves off. Screw the code of the Crasher - you're getting hurt."

Venus's response was yet another flying brick. Sotaki pulled a scythe from his backpack and bisected the brick as it flew by him. He then turned the two brick-halves to dust with the impact of the counterweight on the scythe handle - a massive, eerily glowing ruby. The resulting cloud soon settled, revealing a glowing Sotaki in a low stance, wielding a large scythe, which was covered with pulsing, sullen red aura. Sotaki had a deadly expression on his face, and the aura of his weapon was slowly enveloping him. He was running his fingers along the edge of the blade. The light of the sun glinted off where he ran his fingers, revealing an incredibly sharp edge.

"Don't do this. She's just a child."

Sotaki ignored Pluto's plea. "She claims she's a warrior. She chose her path. It's away from you, so you have no obligation - or ability - to protect her." His voice was different from before; it was a complete monotone. Sotaki's breathing was not heavy, and his face was not flushed. The tempo of the pulsing of the glow around the scythe told the Senshi that his heartbeat was perfectly steady. This meant that he was totally in control and feeling no emotion. From what they had seen of him so far, this probably meant that he was going to teach Venus a painful lesson, and scare her to the point of submission, in a last-ditch effort to make her see reason. That's what was PROBABLY going to happen. However, he was emitting enough of killing aura to make Setsuna and Mars fear for their own well-being, and to make the rest of the scouts shudder on general principle. They remembered the ease with which he had dispatched the youma he fought, and the smile he wore when he did so, and suddenly realized that Venus was most likely even farther up the creek than they had previously realized. Knowing Sotaki's fighting style, they listened closely. However, no music reached their ears, and no poetry - just a light breeze.

Sotaki dashed forwards and swung a crushing blow at Venus with the hilt of his scythe. She took it to the gut, staggered back and launched a counterassault with a swiftly-summoned Love-Me Chain. Sotaki avoided it effortlessly, moving out of the way of punches and kicks with an absolute minimum of effort. Though his feet remained planted, Venus would have had more success striking smoke. He quickly launched a sweep, and with the energy of the followthrough spun all the way around and kicked Venus sharply in the temple. The force kept her on her feet - but made her stagger anew.

Venus attempted to back up and prepare another attack, but Sotaki stopped her and mechanically began decimating her defense. Every block Venus attempted was swatted away effortlessly, and the general effect was that of a twig turning aside a tsunami. This was compounded by the fact that Venus couldn't directly block Sotaki's scythe - the best she could do was turn it aside with her chain.

Venus snared Sotaki's arm with her chain. Sotaki stowed the scythe, and pulled out his anti-air cannon, and lobbed it up. Launching himself out of the crater formed by the kickback of this throw, he dragged Venus along. He rebounded off the cannon, past Venus on the way down. The jerk on the chain reversed the direction of her flight path. Launching himself upwards, he rammed his fist into her gut, nearly folding her in half. The shock dissipated the chain binding the two, and Sotaki flew up, grabbing his wayward weapon on its way down. The whole exchange took less than two seconds. Venus landed face-down. Sotaki landed with a crash nearby. Ramming the barrel into the roof just in front of a stunned Venus, he lifted it up, pulling her up. Flicking it up again, he launched her into the air. Sotaki assumed another low stance and continued to bat Venus around with his weapon.

Finally swatting her down into the ground, he stowed the cannon and brought out the shimmering blade. Emerging from Sotaki's pack-of-many-things in the form of a hovering ball of mercury, it quickly assumed its last seen form. Extending a hilt at Sotaki, the magical weapon allowed itself to be grabbed and wielded. As Venus staggered up, one of her legs buckled and sent her down, resulting in a narrow miss from what otherwise would have been a decapitating strike. Sotaki reached down and pulled her up by her hair, resulting in a very dizzy Venus.

Twisting his wrist, Sotaki made his sword shimmer with a surreal light. The visible edges on the weapon faded, leaving behind something more closely resembling the lamppost that composed the thing. Repeating his performance with the flack cannon, Sotaki took Venus on a quick tour of the area approximately one lamp-post length from him.

Suddenly, Sotaki's form blurred and faded from view. Venus continued her broken-line flight path around where Sotaki was last seen. Then, her path began to deviate a little. Then more, and more. Finally, she was launched upwards, face-down. Sotaki appeared about two feet behind her, parallel to the ground and matching her speed fairly closely, but spinning like a top. His sword was nowhere to be seen, but there was a blurry silver ring around him, near what would be his shoulder height. As Sotaki slowly slowed, the Scouts saw what was happening, and those with an elementary grasp of physics shuddered in sympathy with Venus.

Sotaki suddenly twisted his wrist again, turning his weapon into a mace. This slowed him down to the point that he was reasonably easy to see to the non-magically-aided eye. This also resulted in the majority of the mass of a lamp post and then some moving at hilt-length from Sotaki, about Sotaki's axis. In other words, it was the most brutal, precise and embarrasing strike imaginable on Sotaki's part. Venus crashed down into the roof, and a section of the poor building-part gave way under the repeated stress the battle was placing on it. Venus fell through several floors, stopping only because of a silver thread about her waist. Sotaki jerked his hand up, throwing Venus up again, and resulting in her forming yet another crater on top of the poor building.

By this time, Venus was barely conscious. Sound was muted, her vision was blurring and her entire body seemed to be coated in concrete dust. None of this was improving her disposition towards Sotaki. Him hauling her out of the crater by her hair was expected, and worsened her temper. Him tossing her aside fell in a similar category. Her being caught by her teammates, set down gently and given enough time to recover her breath was counter to her understanding of Sotaki. She kneeled there for a while, just staring at the ground/roof beneath her, breathing heavily. Hearing a displacement of air, she looked up and saw Sotaki with his anti-aircraft gun pointed directly at her face. Sotaki was frowning.

"I don't know why I give people so many chances, I really don't. Now. That was me not even trying - in fact, it took more effort to keep you alive than it did to fight you. You have no chance whatsoever. I have been tolerant to the point of dealing with you like a stubborn child. **Pull your head out of your ass**." Here, Sotaki's voice displayed more emotion than he had shown during the entire beat-down he had administered to Venus. "Even if you don't agree with my methods, or my origins, or my goals - admit this. As long as you remain cynical, you stand against me. I am willing to teach you regardless of this. What would I gain by training a warrior who serves justice and peace if I were evil? I mean, Kami-on-a-stick! What more evidence do you need of my good-will? Healing?"

Halting in his rant, Sotaki reached out and from thin air pulled what appeared to be a beer bottle. Flicking the cap off with his thumb, he sloshed the contents over a blankly staring Venus. As the pale red liquid inside made contact with her flesh, it seemed to vanish - and the wounds that it touched were cleaned and sealed, their pain receding to a mere dull ache. "Now. Are you prepared to listen?"

Venus's mind was in turmoil. This man had been prepared to kill her a few minutes ago, and here he was, helping her up and healing her. Everything he said - every logical step he took - made sense. She smelled something fishy about his argument, but for the life of her she couldn't find it. Could it be... he was right? Had she been attacking someone who didn't deserver it, and was sparing her life after repeated insults, ambushes, assaults and harassment?

Sotaki sighed. "As for the rest of you... You've accepted. You'll be my trainees now, yes? Let's do this in an orderly fashion. I presume most of you go to the same school... barring Pluto, who I'm guessing has a job to fit in, and Saturn, who seems a bit younger, and Uranus and Neptune, who I'm guessing by body language, yaddah yaddah, are happily cohabiting. I'm gonna go with assuming you," here Sotaki pointed to the Inners "girls tend to hang together. Thus I assume you can all come up with a semi-truthful alibi for any parents or guardians that may be worried. The rest of you I assume have flexible enough hours on whatever occupations you have to be able to cut out a few hours early - whatever works. I would prefer to have all nine of you trainable at the same time... that and for the more physical side of this training I should have someone a bit more experienced than me in the fighting arts teaching you. At least, if I can help it."

Venus shook her head to clear away the remainder of the fog, and slowly got up. "I... I'm sorry. I jumped to conclusions, and wouldn't listen, just attacking you... I..." Her tears started to well up, threatening to overwhelm her. Sotaki shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

Venus's tears cleared up, if only out of sheer shock at this response. "But... I tried to kill you!"

Sotaki shrugged. "Yeah, and now you regret it. Chill out. You're not trying to do it anymore, no one got hurt, and you're more likely to consider your motives for attacking someone before doing so. You're more mature and rational now. I'd say that overall this is a better situation than before. So why the sorrow?"

Venus could only boggle at the teen in front of her. He had challenged her, defeated her, tolerated her, sought to teach her, beat her within an inch of her life, healed her, and now forgiven her. "Why?" She whispered, the word catching in her throat.

"Because, as you may have noticed, there is a foe coming, and I thought you girls might like the ability to fight back, save the Earth, that sort of thing. You know, the stuff you're supposed to normally do."

Venus actually cracked a grin at that. "Point. So... what do we do now?"

"As I was saying - training. Tactics, teamwork, hand-to-hand, magic, and some heavy weapons training for those that show the desire and talent to learn it. If any of you display any other... talents... I may be able to teach you something extra. In the meantime, we'll set up patrol rotas, detectors, and maybe some kind of automated anti-demon defense system. Once we figure out where these things are coming from, we'll ensure that they stop. Sound good?"

Seeing a weak nod as his response, Sotaki turned to the rest of the Senshi. "I'll be seeing you all soon. Work something out before the next attack."

Seeing nods from all the Senshi, Sotaki smiled and dropped a smoke grenade. When the grey substance had dissipated, he was nowhere to be seen.

*****

>1<: Cologne didn't put her all into that attack but she did put forth some effort. The fact that Sotaki was emitting almost no aura (he doesn't have much - Ranma saw a supercharged aura due to circumstances that will be explained later, and as far as Cologne knows mana and psi can't be used to improve the performance of a body) she came to the conclusion that Sotaki is good enough to suppress his aura to the point of blending in with the average citizen, AND can flare it quietly and accurately enough to block her attacks. She was so preoccupied she failed to notice the gate access and potion. All in all, an extremely difficult and ballsy bluff, which Sotaki was only able to pull off with the benefit of his psychic powers.


End file.
